The Unexpected Lover
by Alice The Walker
Summary: There's more than one way to catch a thief, and more for a thief to steal than just a gem.
1. First Marks

"…..What did you do this time?"

An exasperated Ran could only sigh at the sight Shinichi made at his kitchen counter. Looking like death warmed over he was sitting on one of the tall, black leather bar stools while leaning over the gray granite counter top. In his hands he nursed a steaming cup of black coffee, slowly sipping from it at regular intervals. Sometimes she thought you could use him for a stopwatch the way he drank. Raise the cup, sip, lower the cup, pause and repeat.

"What makes you think I did anything?"

_Rosy red blooming like poinsettia across his cheeks._

He'd raised his head slightly to look directly at her with a slight glower on his face. The angry effect he might have been going for was completely ruined by the sight of what she was damn sure was a hickey peaking just over the edge of his turtleneck. Well, that explained why he'd suddenly developed something of a fashion sense and abandoned that horrible blue suit.

"That's the third cup of coffee you've had in the last half hour. You never need that much unless something's wrong and with the way you're moping I'm venturing to guess that whatever has you in this strange funk, it was somewhat your fault."

_Standing frozen as the sky's crystals fell around them._

"Playing detective now?" Shinichi had sat up some more, turning slightly in his chair to better face Ran. Really she was a little too observant when it was least needed. He might as well give her his full attention so that he could waylay her now. He truly didn't want to know what would happen if she started digging into what had occurred last night.

_Moonlight shining down on them, a leering grin beneath a hat, footsteps appearing then disappearing in the snow._

Ran could only laugh at that. She didn't need to be a detective to see that something was up with him. They'd known each other so long they might as well have been twins with how they could read each other. It was obvious that something had happened between the last time she'd seen him and now. Well, beyond the hickey on his neck. She'd have to ask him about that too, after he divulged whatever was bothering him. It was the holidays and he was still acting so down. Was it about last night maybe?

"Are you still mad about not catching Kaitou Kid last night? It's not like he's going to disappear anytime soon Shinichi."

_Far away on the edge waiting to jump and fly beyond his reach._

"You'll have plenty of chances to capture him. Anyways with the snow from last night everything's looking really pretty. So you're going shopping with me to help me pick out a dress for Sonoko's Christmas party."

_Suddenly he'd moved as his cape swirled around him, blending in with the snow, and was right there, asking if he had a special someone for the holidays._

"You're right Ran. Sorry, it's just so infuriating to think I was _so close_ to capturing that idiot thief and he _still_ managed to slip out of my grasp."

He pushed his feelings of shame to the farthest reaches of his mind. If he ignored what had happened last night, then everything would be right again and no one would be the wiser as to the occurrences on a rooftop.

_Arms coming around him, warmth in the cold air, misty breath ghosting ever so gently over his face._

"If you say so Shinichi."

While she was skeptical about it, he'd never been that easy to cheer up before, she'd let him get away with it this time. Now how to bring up the oh so important topic of that hickey he was doing such a poor job of hiding?

"Thanks Ran. I'll meet you in the foyer in a second I need to grab my coat."

_Face so close to his, enveloping him in the scent of cinnamon and spices. Answering that no, he had no one special in a daze._

Well, that had worked out quite nicely in his opinion. Shinichi stood up looking much better now that he'd gotten Ran off the scent of trouble, grabbing his partially filled mug and quickly draining the rest of the now lukewarm coffee. Walking over to the sink to rinse it out and set it to the side to dry, he reached up to scratch at an itch on his neck. Inadvertently he also pulled the top of his deep green turtleneck down, baring his throat.

"Your neck's covered in hickeys!"

Freezing in place like a doe that had smelled something strange, Shinichi slowly took his hand away from his neck as the beginnings of a blush started to form.

"Did someone finally molest you?! And you didn't think to tell me! Details baka-Shinichi, details. Is he from around here, what school is he going to, you know you have to introduce me to him now right?"

All of this had been said in a single breath, and Shinichi could only stare at her in complete shock. His brain had shot into overdrive and was frantically scrambling to find a way to explain this without actually explaining it when it finally registered what she'd said.

"He?"

"I've known you're gay for awhile now baka. Now stop trying to think of ways to dodge the question. Who was he? And more importantly why wasn't I informed of this? I have to make sure he'll treat you well."

_Gentleman in white, slowly bringing their faces together. "That means I steal you for myself right?"_

"Ran it wasn't anything…"

"You have _hickeys all over _your neck. I'd say that was something. Don't try to deny it either, if you really hadn't liked it you'd have hurt him before he could actually leave a mark."

_Pleasure crawling up his spine, gasps stolen from him as the gentleman in white left his mark on the throat he'd mindlessly presented. _

Trying to act nonchalant about it all, Shinichi pulled together every bit of composure and dignity he had left. Which wasn't all that much as the blush continued to spread with every word Ran said and every memory of the night before playing through his mind. Except he wasn't supposed to think of the night before, that was something that never happened as far as he was concerned.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I did tell you. And I'm not sure if it really meant anything to him. He was just messing with my head I'm sure."

_Words whispered into his skin, arms tightening just a fraction more "I don't plan on giving you back. You're mine now."_

"Honestly Shinichi you're such a dunce sometimes. If you're neck is any indication he's pretty serious."

He couldn't quite seem to stop the compulsion to bring his hand up to his neck to cover the marks. Whether to hide them out of shame or to try and keep them to himself as a reminder he didn't honestly know.

"It's complicated right now. Could you just leave it alone? Please, while I try and sort it out myself?"

Ran forced herself to not demand answers then and there. Shinichi had an almost desperate look on his face now, hand closed over his throat and shoulders slightly hunched as he leaned against the counter.

"Fine but you will tell me as soon as you can. Understood?"

"Ma'am, yes ma'am."

"_And I'll make sure you remember me every time you see it snow. The first snow of the year seems an appropriate omen, ne?"_

**Criticisms and any advice please! I've never tried to write a chapter fic, or really any fic before so I'm looking for any and all feedback. So long as it's not just people saying it sucks without saying why it sucks. I can't improve if no one tells me what's wrong. **

**Anyways, this is for the theme First Snow and going to be entered into the Mirror Complex forum X-Mas contest. If you haven't already go read Dragon-sama's and White Mage Koorii's work. Far better than mine. Funnily enough though, I'm watching the first snow of the year outside the library windows^^ **


	2. Two Notes

"What do you think Shinichi? Should I go for something in a subtle color or maybe something bright would be better? It is a Christmas party after all."

Ran turned from the dress rack she had been flipping through so she could see his face when he answered. No need to make this an easy experience for him, especially after he refused to tell her who his secret guy was. Really, what were friends for but to be used as sounding boards and secret keepers when you had something troubling you?

"I'm sure whatever you pick will look fine Ran."

Shinichi thought he was going to prove science wrong and die of boredom if this continued any longer. That or go mad from the itch on his neck. But there was no way he was going to try scratching again. It was bad enough that Ran had seen all the marks on his neck, no need to announce his humiliation to the rest of the world. Especially since this one odd girl kept glancing over at him as if he was some strange creature. It was starting to get a bit uncomfortable.

"Ah, let's go eat for awhile before I decide then. I don't want to pick something too out of place for the party."

Placing the floor length royal purple dress she'd been considering back onto the rack, Ran strode over to the couch Shinichi had been sitting on while she browsed the dress shop. He'd been laying there obliviously for the last hour as she tried to narrow down her choices.

Well, even if he hadn't noticed she'd seen the odd way one of the other women in the store had been looking at him. Was it really so weird to see a boy in a dress shop? It wasn't like he was alone; most people would simply assume he was her boyfriend that she'd dragged along for a shopping trip even if that assumption wasn't entirely true.

"I can assume I'm paying for this food?" He replied with a vague grin.

"Of course, you wouldn't make a lady pay now would you?"

"Sometimes I have to wonder if you're really a lady. You hit harder than most boys."

Ran glowered at him, with that look she always had whenever he implied anything negative about her father; the one that said she'd really like to hit something right then, preferably his face, but for once luck was on his side. She couldn't exactly attack him in the middle of the mall.

He stood up slowly; almost an hour of sitting in one place had put a kink in his back. Stretching his hands upwards and bending slightly back to release the kink he suddenly felt like someone was glaring in his and Ran's direction. Carefully lowering his hands downwards he glanced around.

"Are you alright Shinichi?" Ran whispered. He had tensed up so suddenly he might have looked like a statue if it wasn't for his carefully searching eyes.

"Yeah, let's go. I don't think that girl likes you very much."

The girl from before was glaring at Ran as if she'd committed some unspeakable evil. Shinichi reached out and grabbed Ran's hand, tugging her towards the entrance.

Once outside the store he continued to pull her along towards the malls food court. Now that she'd mentioned it he was feeling on the hungry side. Coffee just wasn't enough of a substitute for food on some days.

"Shinichi, do you know who that girl was?"

Sigh, of course she'd have to ask. Not that he actually had any idea why the girl would glare at Ran when before she'd been staring at him.

"I have absolutely no clue who that girl was or why she was glaring at you. Honest Ran."

Scrutinizing his face, Ran could see that he really didn't seem to know who that girl was. There was no reason for him to lie about it after all.

"All right, but you're getting me a whole Panda House entrée for this. It was your fault somehow. She'd been looking at you first."

"Yeah, yeah. Here's ¥1500, go get whatever it is you wanted. I'm getting a sub myself."

"Alright, I'll meet you at that table by the fountain then."

"Sounds good."

Finally able to just think now that Ran had run off to get her food, Shinichi paused to collect his thoughts. That girl had looked awfully familiar, though he couldn't seem to quite place the face. Did she go to their school maybe?

Someone bumped into him from the side while he was still trying to remember where he'd seen that strange girl before. Turning he glanced around trying to see who it was that had bumped into him. Whoever it was had gotten lost in the crowd of people that had flooded the food court. Even he couldn't find the person for all his deductive skills. It's not like he had anything to go on.

Stopping to take inventory of all his items, just in case it was a pick pocket of some sort he found a plain white business size card in the pocket on the side he'd been pushed on.

Pulling it out he only saw a blank side of the card. Curiously he turned it over to see if there was something on the other side. Was this some strange new form of advertising? If so it was both irritating and rude.

Upon turning it over, Shinichi wasn't entirely sure how to react.

"What are you doing Shinichi?"

Ran had been slightly worried when she hadn't seen Shinichi waiting at the table by the fountain for her. Normally even with her head start he would have been there first. Panda House made most of their food in small increments so it would almost always taste fresh. The only downside to that being it often took awhile to get a full entrée.

That said subs never took more than a minute or two. Which led to where she was now, trying to figure out why Shinichi looked like he was having heart palpitations.

"Shinichi, are you alright? You don't look so good. Come on let's get you into a seat before you pass out or something."

Shinichi could only clutch the card in his white knuckled hand as Ran led him over to the table by the fountain. What was going on?!

"What's that you're holding?"

Jerking liked he'd been shocked his head shot up from the downward position it'd been in as he was staring at the card. Ran was reaching a hand out to pull the card from his grasp.

Quickly shoving it into his pocket, the back one just to make sure she didn't try to make a grab for it, Shinichi raised his hands in the universal sign for surrender.

"It's nothing Ran; I'm going to go get my sub you can just start eating. You wouldn't want your food to get cold would you? I'll be back in a minute I really am quite hungry, better hurry before the line gets too long. Cause than it'd be an even longer wait, so just enjoy your meal, be right back."

With that strangled excuse to run given he quickly started towards Sammy's Subs. If he'd glanced back for just a moment he would have seen a very scary look on Ran's face. It was a look full of curiosity mixed with a slightly knowing grin that did not bode well for his continued secrecy or peace of mind.

"What was that stupid thief thinking!?" Shinichi could only whisper furiously to himself as he waited for his meatball sub with parmesan cheese to be finished. On top of his absolute embarrassment that damnable itch still hadn't gone away. It was like having some fly buzzing around his head times ten. He was not about to become foster for more gossip though. There was enough flying around with all the dead bodies that seemed to turn up around him.

That was one reason he'd started to go to Kid heists more. It was a chance to try and bring a thief to justice and exercise his considerable intellect without someone dying or getting hurt.

Sure there was a lot of embarrassment on behalf of the task force and Hakuba-san but nothing too dangerous. It was like having a breath of fresh air, especially after all those years of breathing in the tainted, cloying air of death and decay.

"Here you go sir. That'll be ¥400. "

Shinichi was startled out of his thoughts by the worker shoving his sub into his hands and subsequently staring at him.

"I'm sorry how much was it?"

"¥400."

"Ah, just a second."

Setting his sub back onto the counter while ignoring the glare starting to form on the other man's face he reached into his left back pocket for his wallet. Pulling it out he flipped through and pulled out a ¥500 coin, handing it to the man who quickly grabbed it and started to put it into his till.

Waiting for his change Shinichi suddenly felt a breath pass over the back of his neck while a hand slid something into his back pocket. The same pocket that he'd put the note into.

Fighting a blush he twisted around as fast as he could, hoping to catch that stupid thief, because he was the only one who would have done that. Shinichi was surprised to see no one directly behind him as he'd thought. The only thing there was the normal bustle of people that anyone would find in a mall food court on a Saturday afternoon. Could _he_ really move that fast?

"Are you going to take your change or not?" Exasperated the worker tried to get the attention of that twitchy boy that was just standing there. Seriously, people these days. They could at least have the decency to stay home if they were taking drugs!

"Ah, sorry sir. Thank you."

Shinichi absentmindedly took his change back, slipping it into his wallet before putting that away. Grabbing the sub he walked a few feet off to get out of the way of the other customers. He then set his sub onto an empty table and felt his back pocket to see what had been put in there. He wasn't going to think of just how it'd gotten in there.

Reaching up with one hand to again try and rub the itch away without pulling his turtleneck down he used the other to turn the new card over. Freezing at the sight of it for a split second, he then grabbed his sub and ran back to the table by the fountain. If that idiot did anything to Ran he was going to get hurt at the next heist.

Looking up Ran saw him running towards her looking somewhat desperate. Was it too much to ask for one day of normalcy?

"Shinichi what's wrong now? And no evading this time baka. First there's some strange girl staring at you, then you get a strange note, next you look like you're going to pass out because of said note and now you're running around like some chicken with its head cut off."

Rubbing his neck again, that itch was _still_ there, Shinichi tried to think of a way to explain without sounding like he belonged in a mental asylum.

"Just tell me Shinichi. You do trust me right?"

Ran was starting to feel slightly hurt. What was going on that Shinichi couldn't tell her, his best friend since childhood?

Seeming to reach a decision if the determined look on his face was anything to go by he reached into his back pocket. Pulling out two white cards he passed them over to her with a vaguely embarrassed face.

She reached out to pluck them from his limp hands. Really it couldn't be that bad. First turning over the one he'd gotten first, if the amount of wrinkles to it was anything to go by, she could understand why he had looked so shaken before.

Slowly she set that one down and reached to pick up the second one. After reading that one as well, she slowly set it back onto the table with its twin.

"Well, I don't see why you had to run over here for that. Sit down and eat. We might as well enjoy the show."

Shinichi could only stare flabbergasted at how collected she was being. How could she sit there and eat as if everything was normal. That thief had, he'd……

Finally just giving in to the inevitable he slumped into his seat and unwrapped the sub. He didn't have the energy to deal with this. Slowly he reached up to once again rub at the itch. He was almost starting to wonder if he hadn't had an allergic reaction to something. But then why was it only his neck that was itching. Could those marks be the cause?

"Mama, look it's snowing!"

Glancing up at the shout of some little girl, Shinichi then craned his head up towards his right where the girl was pointing. Shouts of glee from little children and surprised sounds from others started to replace the normal chatter.

Out of the fountain came not running water now, but snowflakes being spun up into the air only to fall softly to the ground.

"Shinichi, your hickeys are showing again."

As he'd cocked his head up, the hand he'd had rubbing his neck through the material had slipped down. The consequence being he'd accidentally bared his neck once again.

Face flaming he quickly jerked the material up only to notice a bit of white powder that was not snow on his hand. As his fingertips started to itch his mind finally shut down.

"Shinichi?"

"He put itching powder in my top."

Both paused to look at his hands.

"…..We should probably get you a different shirt."

"Yeah, probably."

Ran sensed he wasn't actually going to be moving anytime soon to go buy something so she simply looked up to stare at the falling snow. It was pretty in a way. What significance did it have for Shinichi and Kaitou Kid-san though?

"You're acting very calm considering he'd have to have snuck into your bedroom to put that there. You've been scratching all day so it's nothing that was put there after we left your house."

"I'm trying not to think about that right now."

"Ah, well you know Sonoko's going to be jealous when she finds out right?"

"Who ever said anything about her finding out?!" He finally deigned to look away from his fingertips to stare at her. He looked a little odd with his cheeks all red. Did Kaitou Kid-san find that cute? Cause Shinichi seemed to be doing it a lot lately.

"Well it's obvious Kaitou Kid-san isn't going to let you forget about him. In fact it seems like he wants everyone to know eventually that he's after you. So of course she's going to find out. I'm sure everyone will eventually."

"How can you be so blasé about this!? He's an internationally wanted criminal!"

"He returns everything though, doesn't he? And it's kind of romantic."

Ran had something of a dreamy look on her face by this point. Really, this was going too far in Shinichi's opinion.

"Well he still takes the gems and he mocks the police."

"You sometimes mock them as well and it's not like you always follow the letter of the law if I may remind you."

And now she had a superior look on her face to replace the dreamy one. What was the world coming to when Ran was winning an actual argument against him?

"Nothing to say to that?"

"I can't believe my best friend is supporting a criminal that seems intent on stalking me."

And now he was just pouting. Kaitou Kid-san must have left quite an impact on him last night to have Shinichi so out of sorts.

"I'm just saying to maybe consider it. It's not like you have anyone else you're interested in and it doesn't look like you will have to do much if I'm to believe that note."

Looking back down at the notes that had instigated this whole conversation Shinichi couldn't help but reread them.

_(1st note) _

_I'm hurt tantei-kun that you would cover up the gift I left you._

_I wonder what should I do to remind you of me? (little Kaitou Kid caricature)_

_(2nd note)_

_Best hurry to Ran-chan, tantei-kun. _

_I wouldn't want you to miss the show._

_Though I suppose soon I'll have to let the whole audience into our little secret. (little Kaitou Kid caricature)_

Ran could only smile at the sight of Shinichi looking so downcast. It was quite funny considering how many people would kill to have the Kaitou Kid after their hearts. Maybe she should be more supportive of Shinichi though? He seemed really confused about all the attention.

Pausing at the thought, considering it and then discarding it she looked down to see Shinichi watching her face closely with something akin to horror.

"I'm in trouble aren't I?"

Ran smiled.

"Yep."

* * *

**Thank you very much for the wonderful responses everyone^^ It really made my day. I hope this chapter meets expectations. It's quite a bit longer than before, about 3,200 words. I'd planned to have it longer than the first, but not this long. I'm surprised at myself. **

**Also a special thanks to White Mage Koorii for her critique. I tried to proofread some more so hopefully it improved. A special thanks to Dragon-sama as well. Your messages gave Kaitou and Ran odd ideas. They didn't do what I wanted them to after I read it. In the end I think I like it better this way though. **

**Shinigami ()- To answer your review, I have absolutely no clue if or when Kaito will introduce himself to Shin-chan. They haven't informed me as of my writing this. **

**Well, now that all the boring stuff none of you are going to read anyways is out of the way. I forgot to put a disclaimer in the last chapter(I've been forgetting lots of things lately) here it is. I don't own the characters, plot line of the original manga/anime, and I'm making no monetary profit out of this. I won't be writing this again as it aplies to the whole story. If some place called Sammy's Subs or Panda House actually exist I am unaware of them. **

**Any advice, criticisms, opinions, commentaries, etc. are all welcome and greatly appreciated^^ Have a good night/day depending on where you are.**


	3. The Other Side

He had no clue what he'd done this time, but it must have been something really bad if the way she was reacting was any clue. Though he couldn't think of anything recently that would cause a rampage of this proportion.

Well beyond him being late to the mall, but she'd appeared to buy his excuse of taking the time to greet an acquaintance. He hadn't even been lying that time around!

Though if he wanted to be technical about it he wasn't sure if he and tantei-kun could really be called acquaintances per say. And most people probably wouldn't really consider what he did a proper greeting. That was all mostly semantics anyways, though he was curious about one thing.

How would a person describe their relationship?

It was probably smart to leave the speculation of what caused the rampage until it was over with though.

Single step back, side step to the right, the way she was going he might actually get hit this time around!

Twist to the left now, duck under her arm, quick jump back.

If he could just hold out until her finale swing maybe he'd have a chance to actually learn what he did wrong.

Ah, there was the build up!

Wait for it, wait for it…now!

Kaito jumped into the air just over Aoko's mop in a last minute dodge of her deadly horizontal swing.

Quickly landing on his feet he leaned forward with a swift, unnerving grin followed by a sweeping bow. Over the years he'd learned that one of the easiest ways to get Aoko off balance was to get in her personal space.

She'd often be thrown off balance and confused long enough for him to come up with a way to distract her from whatever he it was he had done. Though in this case he needed to figure out what it was he had allegedly done first.

"Really I know you like to live in your own little fantasy world but they've proven solipsism false. If you'd be so kind as to join reality and possibly explain what imagined transgression I have accomplished recently."

As he had expected Aoko dropped the mop and quickly shuffled back to get away from Kaito's grinning face. If there was one thing she'd never forget for the rest of her life, it was that close proximity to Kuroba Kaito was rarely a good thing.

Kaito heaved a mental sigh as Aoko backed away from him. This morning might have been at least a tad more interesting if she'd done something in reaction to his antics that he didn't expect. He supposed random outbursts of anger would have to suffice for his odd happenings quota of the day.

Really though, it was so easy to manipulate people at times. They all seemed to react almost exactly as he intended them to both in school as Kuroba Kaito, simple civilian magician and during his heists as the internationally wanted thief Kaitou Kid.

Well, they all did except for _him._ Kudou Shinichi defied the rules, looked at things in such strange ways, constantly foiling his well made plans. He forced him to be creative and really think on his feet during the nighttime heists.

Kaito found that he spent more time planning the heists with tantei-kun in mind, planning how to evade him in as many scenarios as possible. Compared to before when he used to plan for the incredibly predictable task force he felt like he had a challenge and a reason to improve his already significant skills.

He may have thought of tantei-kun as a critic at first but over time he'd come to realize something. Tantei-kun was an artist in his own way. Maybe he didn't create tricks but he took what he found around him to create a scene almost like a painter. Every time he deduced a scene he created a picture of sorts for others to understand how it was done. Tantei-kun was nothing so simple as just a lowly critic. Maybe that was why…*crash*

"Kaito, don't say weird things and then just ignore me you baka!"

No matter how long she had known him, Aoko knew she'd never understand what made Kuroba Kaito tick. Sometimes even she had to wonder if he didn't suffer from some strange form of multiple personality disorder. That might explain some of his more eccentric tendencies. She raised her fist into the air.

At the same time that didn't give him the right to just ignore her!

"What was that for?!"

That'd hurt! Seriously what was wrong with this girl? First she shows up at his house looking as mad as a raging bull and once they were out of sight of his house she'd started to attack him. He hadn't even flipped her skirt recently! A thought occurred to Kaito then and the route from mind to mouth was once again proven to have no block.

"Are you PMSing Aoko?"

…Did he just say what she thought he said? Red slowly rose up to spread across her face as she kneeled down and reached to pick up her discarded mop in a pseudo calm move.

"What did you just say Kaito?"

Kaito could feel the sweat starting to gather on his forehead from the abject terror that was beginning to creep its way through his veins.

"Are you PMSing Aoko?" he replied in a tiny, whispery voice that was completely unlike his normal exuberant tones.

WHACK!

"Baka Kaito."

Lying on the ground dizzy was Kaito as Aoko stood over him with her mop raised to a resting position on her right shoulder, a position not dissimilar to that of a swordsman's, while a pleased sort of look was on her face.

Reaching down with one hand she grabbed him by the back of his coat and started to drag him through the light coating of snow that lay on the sidewalk.

"You are so oblivious at times! It was bad enough you were late yesterday but you lied to me on top of that! Did you think I wouldn't notice you hanging out with that strange girl at the dress shop for an hour!

I didn't think it was you at first I'll admit because it was too early for you to be there but then you were fifteen minutes late and the way you moved when you got off the couch was a dead giveaway.

And then to try and leave only to come back a little while later saying you were greeting a friend as if you hadn't seen me!? Changing your hair style and clothes isn't enough to fool me ahou.

Is it too much to ask that you show a little consideration for your childhood friend? You could have just told me you wanted to spend time with the girl you liked. I told you I'd support you so long as she wasn't some creepy stalker or anything."

Aoko had gone from looking like Nakamori-keibu during a Kid heist to a lost little girl in a matter of seconds. He hadn't meant to hurt her by playing with tantei-kun a bit and felt some honest regret for that.

He'd just been so jealous when he'd seen him with Ran-san on what looked at first like a date.

Kaito had never had very good impulse control before and seeing the person he was trying to court with someone else had felt horrible.

What did she mean by a dress shop though?

"I'm really sorry I was late and hurt you. But I wasn't ever in a dress shop Aoko. That would have been someone else."

"I saw you there Kaito! Sure your hair actually looked brushed for once but it was definitely you."

"That might have been someone who looked like me, but honest I was never with any girl."

Glancing down at Kaito who hadn't made a move to get up from the ground even after she'd paused in her walking to rant, Aoko took the time to really study his face.

Kaito felt a different kind of nervous as Aoko looked down on him with a very serious face.

He must have passed some unknown test though as she glanced off to the side away from him before quietly apologizing for dragging him through the snow.

A thoughtful looked sped across Kaito's face as he stood up, slowly brushing the snow off his pants and jacket with a seemingly careless hand.

"No apology needed Aoko. It was my fault for getting distracted yesterday. Now enough of this depressing stuff."

In a flash of light confetti started to fall around them. Now grinning Kaito looked down at Aoko before speaking again.

"What was it you wanted to do today anyways? Ice skating, more mall shopping, I'm willing to do whatever you want to do to make up for being late yesterday."

She paused to consider what it was she wanted to do. Originally she'd only dragged him out of his house in order to punish him for the mall incident. The thought of going anywhere with him hadn't crossed her mind at the time.

"Ice skating sounds nice."

"Then ice skating it is. Any idea where the nearest rink is?"

"Nope."

As they stood there on the sidewalk snow slowly started to fall around them from the cloudy sky.

Looking up Kaito thought of where his tantei-kun might be at that moment and wondered if maybe he was seeing the snow falling and thinking of him as well. It was hard to imagine his passionate and persistent tantei-kun pausing to stare at falling snow and think of Kid but it was something he wished would happen.

But then he also wished to refer to him as just Shinichi in his mind, but if he started that in his head he might slip up later in his speech. He'd already pushed him so far.

Would he run if he started using such a familiar form of address?

Maybe it would seem like nothing after what he'd done before. He could feel the grin start to form on his face as he remembered that night that seemed so long ago though in actuality it was only a few days.

Tantei-kun had looked so pretty that night. He'd presented such a nice challenge, almost managing to prevent Kid from taking the Evening's Glow diamond.

When he'd appeared on the rooftop Kid had drawn a blank for a second at the sight of him with his tie missing and collar loosened, flushed from running after him and his hair slightly mussed.

All of Shini…Tantei-kun's attention had been focused solely on him and he'd looked like he'd just been ravished quite thoroughly and he'd thought maybe he should make sure he had a good excuse for looking like that and when he'd approached he hadn't moved and then he'd moaned so innocently as he leaned over him….*WHACK*

"Stop thinking whatever perverted thoughts you were thinking ahou."

Kaito clutched his head in pain. Of course she'd hit him right where she'd smacked him earlier. Forcing tears to gather in his eyes while he was still crouching down he looked up at Aoko with the saddest puppy eyes he could manage through the pain.

"What makes you think it was anything perverted I was thinking about?"

With a completely deadpan expression Aoko slowly lifted her right index finger to touch the very tip of her nose.

"?"

Dropping the puppy eyes Kaito slowly lifted his own index finger to touch the tip of his nose while standing up and watching Aoko carefully.

Once he had stood all the way up, Aoko slowly moved her finger from her nose and pointed to the area around her feet.

Feeling incredibly confused about what this was all about and how exactly it explained how she knew what he was thinking, Kaito looked down at the snow that had gathered around his own feet.

The snow wasn't its original pure white anymore, having been stained by a bright red. Feeling his face flush at his realization Kaito raised his head to look Aoko in the eye.

Maintaining her deadpan expression Aoko deigned to reply verbally with all her wonderful delicacy.

"It was fairly obvious when your nose started bleeding baka."

Immediately after saying so she turned on her heel and started walking away in a seemingly random direction. Taking a final glance at the now red snow Kaito jogged to catch up with her.

"Where are you going Aoko?"

"I just remembered that I'd heard of a new ice rink that had just completed its construction in the Beika area. So we're going to take a train there to find it."

Kaito smiled as he remembered where a certain favorite detective of his lived. Who knows, maybe he'd get to see tantei-kun there.

**Ah, this one isn't as long as the last one, but it's longer than the first. I hope you all enjoyed it. If you have any advice, opinions, questions, criticims, etc. I'd love to hear it and every review is greatly appreciated. I found it so much harder trying to keep Kaito in character so I hope I accomplished that to my readers satisfaction. **

**Another thing before I shut up and stop wasting your time. I have a poll set up to determine how this story is going to got from this point on. I can't continue until I have an idea of how you all want it to go as that will determine which idea of mine I go with. I'll close the poll around 10 o'clock at night tomorrow, so please vote so I know what everyone wants. Thank you for taking the time to read and have a good day/night depending on where you are^^**


	4. Four Skaters

The Hon Center was an ice rink constructed in the Beika area and financed by Sukottorando Fuyu of the Sado Corporation. According to the official statements made by the Sado Corporation and by Sukottorando-san himself, it was created as a testament to his mixed heritage and an attempt to show more cultural diversity within the homogenous country of Japan.

That said the rink appeared to be very similar to any other ice rink within Japan despite the claims of the company. It of course had the artificial ice area at its very center, a concession stand full of overpriced snacks, candy bars, pop, juice and coffee, then there was the counter for renting skates that might or might not be safe to wear, and crowded locker rooms with plenty of malfunctioning lockers for people to put their stuff in. Whether or not a person could call that stuff "valuables" as the signs around the rink claimed was up for debate.

The one major difference between the Hon Center and all the other rinks in Japan though was the sheer size of it. While an ice rink would be considered quite large at 26 meters by 60 meters, the Sado Company had gone a step further in the construction of the Hon Center rink. This ice rink measured at 30 meters by 60 meters, meeting the qualifications set up by the international Olympic officials for ice hockey rinks. Maybe the Scots liked really large ice rinks?

Questions of how culturally diverse the rink actually was compared to what it claimed aside, Kaito honestly wasn't so desperate for entertainment to have somehow looked this all up sometime between when he'd had his err, _accident,_ earlier and arriving with Aoko at the rink.

He had actually just been reading all the fun facts on the center off the sign he was currently clinging too. Though some of the less complimentary attributes were his take on how the place probably was.

People were giving them odd looks as they moved around the two childhood friends in order to get onto the ice. The very slick, very smooth, very unfriendly ice that Aoko was trying to tell him to move around on while balancing himself on top of what were essentially paper thin blades.

The reason for the stares was that Kaito was clinging to a sign by the rink entrance that listed rules for being on the ice while mentioning the reason behind the construction of the building itself. Standing behind Kaito was Aoko with her arms around his waist in a tight grip attempting to pull him off the sign. Both had already gotten their possibly unsanitary skates on when Kaito had decided to have a mini freak-out and proceeded to cling to the nearest stationary object that looked sturdy enough to withstand the force of nature that was Aoko.

Hence, the current situation of Kaito clinging to a sign like a terrified child with Aoko pulling on him playing the role of the irritated mother.

"Come on Kaito. How do you expect to ever get better if you never practice? Just think of it like one of your stupid magic tricks, always practicing in order to improve."

Kaito twisted his head around to stare at her like she had committed some unspeakable evil punishable on the capital level.

"My magic is not stupid!"

"It is when it's just being used to prank people!"

"Is not, it entertains the audience and provides comic relief for stressed out students that might otherwise have a nervous breakdown from all the pressure forced on them by evil school administrators and teachers."

"You cause about half the tension in the school baka!"

"Do not." Kaito was now sporting a very petulant look that said he wouldn't back down on this.

"If I agree with you will you please let go?"

Kaito now looked as if he was questioning her very sanity. A single eyebrow went up as he continued to stare at her without answering.

"Well?"

Somehow managing to tilt his head closer to hers without loosening his grip on the sign Kaito said very blandly and quite to the point, "Nope."

Aoko continued to stare at him as if he'd change his mind should she look at him long enough. Turning his head back around, even he'd get a crick in his neck after awhile, Kaito stopped paying attention to Aoko and observed the crowd.

Families seemed to dominate the crowd with teenage to mid-20's couples interspersed throughout.

Little kids were begging parents to buy them snacks and couples were laughing as they held onto each other while skating. One lady was arguing with what appeared to be her husband and a few feet away from them two kids who looked to be about fourteen were….he actually wasn't sure what they were trying to do. It looked like they were trying to suck each other's face off almost.

Glancing away to look back at the other married couple it seemed the man had done something right in the last few seconds if the lady's face was anything to go by. Was that a new ring on her finger?

He glanced back at the feel of Aoko's hands tightening even more around his waist.

"Hey Aoko that's starting to hurt….?"

Aoko was looking down somewhat, hiding her face from view as the shadows cast by the lighting and her hair helped to mask her expression.

"I thought you said you'd do whatever I wanted to make up for you being late at the mall."

Her tone was even but Kaito sensed something was off with her.

Opening his mouth to reply, turning more as to better see her face, which loosened his grip on the sign, he paused as she suddenly looked up with fire burning in her eyes.

"Baka Kaito!"

With a furious tug fueled by feminine rage and pure adrenaline, Aoko took advantage of the lapse in Kaito's grip to twist backwards and towards the right to yank Kaito off the sign and onto the ice.

In his surprise Kaito lost his grip on the sign completely and with hands stretching towards it as if reaching for a savior he went flying backwards from the sheer force of her pull. Unfortunately Aoko was apparently surprised as well by her show of strength and instead of holding on to him let go.

Kaito flailed his hands as he was catapulted backwards onto the slippery ice of evil. Barely managing to stand upright he tried to twist so he could at least catch himself before he hit the wall. Something he was almost positive would happen since everyone was frantically scrambling like ants to get out of his way.

Apparently twisting wasn't such a good idea as he felt himself start to fall forwards onto the cold, hard, slippery ice of evil. Out of nowhere, or at least that's how it appeared to Kaito, there was someone trying to catch him. Said person was now falling with Kaito though this new person had somehow managed to twist themselves under him. Thudding onto the ice and skidding slightly they finally slowed to a stop with the helpful stranger on his back lying under Kaito.

Looking down Kaito could almost feel his mind crawl quite happily into the metaphorical gutter. Lying beneath him was none other than Tantei-kun! Tantei-kun was lying under him, hands on either side of his face, face flushed and panting from adrenaline. Looking farther down their somewhat entwined bodies he noted that his knees were on either side of Tantei-kun's slim hips and his own hands were next to Tantei-kun's.

Sadly he also noticed that Tantei-kun had apparently decided to get some new turtlenecks as his neck was still covered quite thoroughly by the atrocious clothes. Not that Tantei-kun didn't look sexy in a pair of form fitting but not overtly tight jeans with a black turtleneck that accented the bright Caribbean blue of his eyes but really. He wanted everyone to see that Tantei-kun was his!

"Um, are you feeling alright?"

Kaito managed to drag his gaze away from the offending garment to look his Tantei-kun in the eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. Thanks. You look like some sacrificial virgin laying like that you know?"

Oooh, that pretty, pretty blush was spreading further down his face and across the bridge of his nose. Fascinated Kaito watched it spread down to vanish underneath the top of that stupid turtleneck and up until his cheeks held a flush that made him look like he'd just been thoroughly ravished.

Feeling what little self control he had vanish in a puff of smoke and confetti he slowly started to lean towards Tantei-kun who was looking so adorably confused and nervous. Just like that night a matter of days ago when he'd stood there frozen as Kid pulled him into his arms.

"Kaito, are you alright?!"

Kaito froze inches away from his Tantei-kun's face. Without taking his eyes from Tantei-kun's he leaned up and away slowly with a smirk on his face, letting Tantei-kun see just a hint of the Kid in him without being too obvious about it. Cackling like mad on the inside at how his eyes widened, showcasing his confusion for all to see, Kaito let the grin slide off his face into a pout as he turned to greet Aoko who was pelting towards him heedless of other skaters.

"How could you just throw me like that? I thought we were friends!"

Aoko skidded to a stop a few feet away, showering the both of them in a light spray of ice.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry I really didn't think you'd actually let go and then you were just flying across the ice."

"It's alright, Shinichi managed to stop him before he hit the wall at least."

All three of them looked up and Kaito was struck at just how similar Aoko and Ran-san looked standing next to each other. Smiling down at him and Tantei-kun she turned to Aoko with a slight bow.

"I'm Mouri Ran and the boy who helped your friend is Kudou Shinichi."

Aoko was looking at Tantei-kun and Ran-san with a bewildered look on her face.

"Ah, it was you two at the mall a few days ago! I'm sorry I must have seemed like such an idiot that day. I'm Nakamori Aoko and the idiot on top of your friend is…"

"I'm Kuroba Kaito, magician extraordinaire!"

A cloud of smoke suddenly enveloped both boys at the end of Kaito's exclamation. Coughing both of the girls fanned their hands attempting to dispel the smoke that had wafted over to them as well. As it cleared they could see Kaito standing behind Shinichi with his arms around his waist for balance while Shinichi stood there looking absolutely mortified.

Upon closer inspection it appeared that despite his lack of grace in the rink Kaito had somehow managed to switch his and Shinichi's clothes around. Now Kaito had on Shinichi's jeans and black turtleneck, all of which fit him surprisingly well.

Shinichi in comparison was now sporting a pair of cargo pants that hung low on his hips and a long sleeved black shirt with a sky blue tee layered over it. Both tops just happened to have low necklines and the previously concealed hickeys that covered his neck were now on full display.

Grinning like a child Kaito looked down happily at his Tantei-kun. While he couldn't skate, he for once was incredibly happy about that. He now had the perfect excuse to cling to Tantei-kun!

"You can both just call me Kaito though."

"And it's fine to just call me Aoko as well."

"Well, you can call me Ran then and Shinichi won't complain if you use his first name either."

"Is anyone considering asking me my opinion about this?"

The other three all looked at Shinichi who seemed to squirm now that all the attention was on him.

"Those clothes actually look pretty good on you Shinichi."

"Ran!!"

"I'm surprised Kaito's clothes fit you so well. Though the pants are somewhat loose on your frame."

"Yeah, it's kind of funny how much alike those two look isn't it?"

"I'd have to agree with you on that Ran-san. Yesterday I thought Kaito had ditched me to spend time with you. They look so much alike it's almost frightening."

Both girls had turned away from the boys, effectively dismissing them to start talking about the similarities between the boys, moving from looks to actions.

Kaito was quickly growing bored at the lack of attention. Feeling Shinichi shift slightly in his hold he looked down to see him trying to put some distance between their bodies. Grinning once again he tightened his grip to close the gap between Shinichi's back and his chest.

Kaito realized he was probably enjoying this just a little too much, especially the realization that he was an inch or so taller than Shinichi, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to care.

"Would you mind letting go of me Kaito-san?"

Kaito wasn't sure if he should close his eyes so he could better enjoy listening to Shinichi saying his real name or leave them open so he could stare at his marks all over Shinichi's neck that he'd exposed for everyone to see.

"Hmmm, won't you call me Kaito?"

He leaned his head down to let his chin rest on Shinichi's shoulders, tilting his head to the side to better look at his face. Right now the flush was still there though he'd gotten his expression under more control. It looked like he couldn't quite decide between being confused or uncomfortable.

"Then Kaito will you please let go of me?"

"Sorry Shin-chan, but I'll just fall again if I let go."

"You seemed to balance fine when you err…"

"Undressed you?"

"Yes that." Shinichi looked over to the side while his blush once again took over his face. And now Kaito had the added bonus of watching it travel all the way down his neck! He watched fascinated as it spread even farther down past the neckline of the two tops he had on. Maybe he should have just left Shinichi without a shirt to wear.

Glancing over to make sure Aoko was still wrapped up in her conversation with Ran, Kaito slowly slid his hands towards the top of the cargo pants Shinichi was wearing. Enjoying the way he could see Shinichi's breath pick up at the movement Kaito leaned his head closer to Shinichi's neck and blew lightly on it.

It really was just fascinating to watch his reactions to Kaito's proximity and actions. He slowly raised the hand he'd lowered, but this time instead of going over the top of the shirts it went under to lie on Shinichi's bare stomach. Kaito brought his lips to rest lightly on his neck as quietly spoke against the skin.

"I was using you for support Shinichi. I doubt I could have managed it without having you to balance me."

"You're Kid aren't you?"

Despite the still red face, obvious embarrassment, and the fact that he was currently being nearly molested by a supposed stranger he still managed to think like such a detective. It was so funny Kaito had to laugh, though he did so while leaving his lips against Shinichi's neck. Feeling the hitch of Shinichi's breath against his lips Kaito calmed down and grinned his full Kid grin with his mouth hidden in Shinichi's neck.

"What makes you think that Shin-chan?"

After several deep breaths to steady his voice Shinichi managed to reply in a tone that vaguely resembled his normal calm voice.

"You're a magician like Kid, Hakuba-san has mentioned in the past that Kaitou Kid is a horrible skater as you have proven yourself to be, and you're currently touching me in a familiar manner even though we are virtual strangers. All that points to you being Kid."

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. You'll just have to catch Kid to find out for sure won't you?"

Taking a breath to retort Shinichi suddenly went very still. Making a questioning noise in the back of his throat Kaito removed his lips from where they'd started to suckle on Shinichi's neck to see what he was looking at.

Apparently Ran and Aoko had found watching them more interesting than whatever they'd been talking about. Both were staring in what appeared to be a relative calm at the position Kaito and Shinichi were currently in.

Ran appeared to be the first to know what to say.

"You both realize we're at a public rink right?"

Straightening up Kaito looked around to see if anyone had noticed. Most people seemed to be purposefully ignoring them, except for a strange group of girls several meters away staring at them in rapt attention. Some of them looked vaguely disappointed and one had a video camera raised and pointed at them.

Winking at the group Kaito turned back to Shinichi.

"Look, we've got fan girls Shin-chan!"

Mortification that had never quite left his face returned ten-fold at the announcement as he once again started to struggle against Kaito.

"Baka, let go of me!"

"But I'll fall if I let go of you."

"All the better!"

"Shin-chan's so mean to me."

Shinichi seemed to be resigned to the fact that Kaito was not about to loosen his grip on him and relaxed marginally into his hold, bringing a please grin to Kaito's face.

"At least be kind enough to remove your hand, please?"

Pouting Kaito tried to think of a good excuse to leave his hand there. Shinichi was warm and cuddly and Kaito wanted to keep physical contact. Otherwise Shinichi might try to move away again!

"How about if I let go and you give me a kiss?"

Kaito leaned his head forward again to see Shinichi's face at a better angle. At the rate things were going that blush would probably become a permanent feature of his face. And he really wanted to see how far down that blush went.

Moving his hand a bit farther up, ignoring the gasp from Aoko and the shrieks of glee from the odd group of girls that was chattering excitedly, he brought his face even closer to Shinichi's as if to kiss him. Shinichi suddenly moved his head as far back as he could, stretching his neck out. Changing course Kaito once again started to leave kiss marks on Shinichi's neck with a grin.

"Hands on it is then."

**...I can't believe I just wrote all that. I blame all the fanart on Mirror Complex livejournal. I was looking at that before I started writing Kaito doing all that stuff. Honestly this was originally going to be a very innocent chapter and it somehow turned into this. Please don't kill me. *ducks behind her special bullet proof table* **

**Anyways, all advice, comments, opinion, criticisms, etc, are incredibly welcome and greatly appreciated. As for the results of the poll, it's going to be a longerish sort of fic focusing primarily on Kaito and Shinichi. Credit goes to koorii-sama, Sama-sama, and Sera-sama for giving me many ideas during random chats. Though they also distracted me from writing I take the blame for that ^^ I have so little self-control. Have a good night/day depending on where you are.**


	5. Lucky Kiss

While it was a beautiful day with a clear sky and crisp air, it was still winter and therefore freezing. Leaning against the back of one of several benches spread across the park areas that were now common in Odaiba, Shinichi glanced down at his watch. Ran had texted him to say she was running late and would be coming with their new friends Aoko-san and Kaito. They were all late by about ten minutes though and he hadn't received a call to say anything had changed location wise.

Why would Ran choose to come with those two anyways? She should know he'd have been more than willing to wait for her at the station. Thinking back to a few days he tried to recall just what might have made Ran decide to meet with them first.

After the ice incident, Aoko-san had smacked her friend, successfully pulling him off of Shinichi. Apologizing profusely for her friend she had proceeded to ask him where he'd gotten the hickeys. While he'd been in shock at the bluntness of someone he'd just met Ran had proceeded to give a detailed explanation of what had occurred at the mall and what she speculated had happened at the heist. He'd been absolutely sure by that point that he would never live any of this down.

Aoko-san had proceeded to drop Kaito onto the ice at the end of Ran's explanation and start a long rant about the evils of Kaitou Kid, how her father was going to catch him just they wait, and how could a detective like Kudou Shinichi let that baka thief do such things to him! In his defense he'd tried to explain he hadn't been expecting it, and it's not like he'd asked for the thief to suddenly molest him!

Apparently whether he'd wanted to be molested or not didn't matter to Aoko-san if her continued ranting was any indication of how she'd felt about his explanation. She'd then turned on Kaito asking what he thought he was doing molesting Shinichi when he already had hickeys on his neck. Kaito had simply claimed he didn't care and as a magician he could make any competition disappear including the Kaitou Kid. All this was said with a bright grin and a wink in Shinichi's direction.

Ran, who had been looking at Kaito with an odd look on her face after Aoko had pulled him off of Shinichi, had tugged Aoko-san a little ways away and started whispering in her ear. Whatever she'd said had apparently made Aoko-san pleased as she'd started nodding her head. After that she'd calmed down and the four had skated around with each other. Though it was mostly Aoko-san, Ran, and himself skating with Kaito clinging to him throughout.

Afterwards Aoko and Ran had made plans for all of them to meet up again in Odaiba two days from then around noon. Whatever she'd said must have started this whole thing. He still didn't know what was taking them all so long though.

It was cold just sitting around outside, and that stupid magician owed him. He'd once again woken up only to find that instead of itching powder in his turtlenecks every single top and pant he owned had disappeared. At least the idiot thief had given him something to wear though only the single outfit. It was made up of a thick, white wool, fisherman's knit top with a crew neck and loose, dark blue jeans that hung low on his hips.

In an attempt to keep them up he'd gone searching for a belt, only to discover all of those had disappeared as well. He studiously avoided thinking too closely about just how Kaito had managed to learn what size clothes he wore.

Glancing down at his hands resting limply in his lap, he slowly raised one to touch his neck. He'd tried to convince Ran to lend him some of her makeup so he could cover them up, but she'd steadfastly refused him claiming that she'd like all her stuff to remain in her house thank you very much. That had led him to truly start thinking that maybe Kaito really was the Kaitou Kid, and wondering if maybe Ran thought the same thing. Who else would be brave enough, or stupid enough in his opinion, to try and sneak into Ran's house no matter the reason? And it's not like the Kaitou Kid would be around today to know that Shinichi had covered them up. So she would only worry that her stuff might later go missing if she knew somehow that Kid would be there today.

While he knew he didn't have any solid proof linking Kaito to Kid, when he stopped to think about it he was fairly certain that teenage magician Kuroba Kaito was the phantom thief Kaitou Kid. He'd never been able to get a clear view of Kid's face or body type, but from what he could tell Kaito and Kid were probably similar physically. Kid had proven he could impersonate Shinichi without a mask and Kaito as well could have passed for his twin. Both Kid and Kaito were magicians on top of that and both seemed to have a penchant for stealing things if his lack of clothes this morning was anything to go by.

And why would Kaito….touch him in such a way if he wasn't the Kid. Before that they'd been absolute strangers! He hadn't even pretended to be surprised at the sight of Shinichi's neck, going so far as to actually sort of kiss him. He wasn't going to think too closely about that.

But he wouldn't start making accusations without definite proof. It could just be that Kaito liked to imitate someone he claimed to admire. As well he could have simply been teasing Shinichi. It wasn't exactly a secret that Shinichi occasionally participated in Kid heists and had come close to actually cornering Kid at one point.

"Shin-chan!"

Looking up Shinichi saw Kaito running towards him, his right hand up in the air waving. He was wearing a forest green, long sleeved shirt with an open black vest over it. He had also donned a pair of jeans but in a light grey as compared to his own dark blue.

As Kaito slowed down to a walk and finally stopped before him Shinichi asked what he'd been wondering since he'd seen Kaito first approach.

"Where are Ran and Aoko-san? I thought they were coming with you."

"Hmm, Aoko called and told me they had decided to meet up with you first before coming here. Shouldn't you know where they are?"

Shinichi narrowed his eyes a fraction at the smile Kaito was giving him as he spoke. Carefully as he didn't want to jump to conclusions Shinichi spoke.

"Are you getting the feeling we were set up?"

"Yep."

He raised his eyebrow a fraction at how much wider Kaito's grin had become when he'd answered, as well as to how quickly he'd answered.

"And the fact that your best friend collaborated with my best friend to lie to us both doesn't bother you at all?"

Kaito was now positively beaming, like a child that knew a secret about you and had just been waiting for someone to ask what that secret was.

"Not really. I get to go on a date with you after all."

"……Where did you get the idea that this was suddenly a date?"

"Well there's you and me, two people spending time with each other in an area famous for being a popular place for couples and Aoko and Ran both said it was a date. So therefore it's officially a date!"

Wondering when he'd fallen down the rabbit hole into insanity Shinichi did his best to resist rolling his eyes.

"When did they say this was a date? Because I'm pretty sure they never did when I was around."

"They said it at the rink. Weren't you reading their lips when Ran was whispering to Aoko?"

"No, I wasn't actually."

"Ah, well that's what they said. So it's a date! And I even planned ahead to make reservations at Tsukiakari Kafe. It has a view of both the Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower. But the best part is that it has Foo Dogs at the entrance!"

If he hadn't been feeling lost before, he could say that he was beyond a shadow of a doubt feeling completely out of his comfort zone by now.

Finally he decided that just saying what was on his mind might be the easiest way of finding stable ground again. Clearing his throat, he looked Kaito dead in the eye before speaking.

"First off what makes you think I'd even agree to this madness? And secondly what do Foo Dogs have to do with anything?"

Kaito leaned over Shinichi at that, his grin shifting to that one that looked so much like Kid's as he rested both arms on the back of the bench with one on each side of Shinichi's head. Was the baka trying to convince Shinichi he was Kid? Fighting to keep his mind focused on the task at hand Shinichi reached both hands up to rest on Kaito's shoulders in order to push him away. Suddenly he found himself with a lapful of Kaito as he settled both his knees on either side of Shinichi. Blushing Shinichi vainly tried to shove Kaito off, who knew when someone might walk down the path!

Blithely ignoring Shinichi's attempts to push him off Kaito proceeded to explain.

"Well, to answer your first question you'll agree because secretly you're in love with me though you won't admit it yet. Also it gives you a perfect explanation for all those love bites on your neck. You can just claim it was your perverted boyfriend."

At this Kaito leered at Shinichi, scooting just that little bit closer and leaving Shinichi wondering if it was possible to die of embarrassment. He tightened his grip on Kaito's shoulders, intending to make sure he got off now but then Kaito was in his face and his lips were on his and he would swear later that he felt his mind overload and that was the only reason he didn't freak on Kaito then and there.

Pulling back Kaito couldn't help but feel immensely proud of himself for managing to always put Shinichi off balance.

"And to answer your second question, I asked some of the girls at my school about you. You're really popular there too, and they mentioned that you solve a lot of murders. So the Foo Dogs will keep all the dead bodies away from you for today!"

Not sure how to react to that on top of the kiss ,_his first kiss why did his first kiss have to be with a possible thief, _Shinichi settled for staring at Kaito like he was an idiot of epic proportions.

"You realize that quite a few murders occur outdoors. So your Foo Dogs aren't going to do a lot of good. Assuming of course I don't just head home right now."

"Planned for that."

Kaito sat back a little farther removing his hands from either side of Shinichi's head. He held his right hand out, palm facing up and staring at Shinichi with a serious look on his face for the first time that day. Tentatively Shinichi raised his own hand, the left one though, to rest on Kaito's with his own palm facing down.

Closing his own hand over Shinichi's, Kaito smiled at him and slowly pulled his hand away in a fist. Once Shinichi could see his hand again he noticed that a red string had been tied around his pinky finger. Raising his eyes he met Kaito staring at him while holding his own right hand up that bore a red string tied around his pinky finger. It was perfect match to the one he'd put on Shinichi's finger.

His grin was back once again as well though his eyes seemed to still hold just a little bit of the seriousness from moments before.

"I've heard red is good luck, so now you can carry a piece of luck with you."

"And what reason do you have for wearing red string as well?"

"Why to make sure we match of course. Don't couples always do matchy things?"

Finally letting go completely of Kaito's shirt, Shinichi rested his head in his hands and groaned. Really, what did he have to do to get this guy to understand that they were not a couple?!

"Couples can do 'matchy things' if they're being sickenly sweet, but we're not a couple Kaito."

Raising his head to see if what he was saying might just be getting through to the magician, he was for the second time that day granted the chance to see Kaito looking serious, if slightly hurt.

"Would it be so bad to give me a chance? Just at least go on this one date with me and if it's so horrible I'll leave you alone from now on. Magician's promise."

While he'd only known him a short time, Shinichi could feel himself weakening at the sight of him looking almost heartbroken yet still so determined. Sighing he looked down at his lap, which Kaito was still on, and tried to reason with himself.

Honestly Kaito was essentially a complete stranger, but he'd known people for years at a time and thought they were kind only to find out they didn't have such great intentions. But then there was the issue of his suspicions. What if it turned out Kaito was the Kaitou Kid? Would he turn him in or let him go? Could he go completely against his ethics for one person?

Recalling what Ran had said at the mall several days ago though, maybe it wasn't so bad? Kaitou Kid never actually hurt people and it seemed to him that Kid was searching for something. Why else return billions of yen in jewels that you'd successfully stolen? Could it be that he was searching for something in the cause of justice? Or was it all just a harmless game to him? A way to entertain an audience of epic proportions?

That wasn't really anything horrible, and Kid gave great publicity to the jewels he stole so most of the people didn't seem all that upset. Mostly the police and detectives, himself included, seemed to be the ones intent of catching him. Making up his mind he finally responded to Kaito, though he only lifted his eyes feeling too embarrassed to lift his face up completely.

"I suppose it wouldn't be too bad to give you a chance."

It should have been made illegal for people to smile that wide, Shinichi thought. It made his own cheek muscles hurt just seeing how wide Kaito's smile had become when he said that.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Come on Shin-chan let's go!"

Jumping up Kaito started to walk away when he paused, looking over his shoulder to see Shinichi still sitting on the bench looking at him oddly. Instead of walking over, Kaito simply turned all the way around and held out his right hand, once again with his palm up and the red string in plain view.

Grinning in an almost self-deprecating manner, Shinichi stood up and strolled to Kaito. Pausing about half a foot away he raised his own left hand to set it into Kaito's awaiting one.

"And where precisely is it we're going?"

Kaito closed his hand over Shinichi's at that but instead of letting go this time he interlocked their fingers and gripped his hand tight to pull Shinichi close to him. Leaning down he simply held Shinichi too him as he rested his head on top of Shinichi's.

"First we're going to go to the Telecom Center, and we can decide where else we might want to go from there. But the reservations for Tsukiakari are for five so we'll want to make sure we're there on time or they might just give the table away. It's pretty popular with the people who know about it."

"And how did you become one of the people who 'know about it'?"

Laughing Kaito raised his head back up and started to walk in the direction of the Telecom Center with Shinichi staying in step beside him. Looking down at Shinichi who was looking at him waiting for an answer he replied in true Kaito fashion.

"A magician never reveals his secrets detective."

"Yet you keep hinting at yours."

"Of course! It's what keeps you coming too me."

"Have you considered that maybe me trying to find your secrets will reveal them?"

"That's what keeps the games fun Shin-chan. Now stop being a detective for a little bit and have some fun."

Shaking his head in exasperation Shinichi let Kaito turn the conversation towards less loaded topics. Maybe he could try and relax just for today. He didn't have to think of Kaito as a romantic companion to hang out with him after all. It wasn't often that he got away from school and detective work to just have a day to hang with a friend. The break could probably do him some good.

When they finally arrived at the Telecom Center Shinichi was doing his best not to laugh at all the tricks Kaito had played on people they passed along the park paths. One grouchy old lady that had given their entwined hands a nasty look had received bright, bubblegum pink hair with what had to have amounted to a bucket of glitter. The hardest part of that had been the fact that as they walked away she still hadn't noticed what Kaito had done to her.

"That'll be ¥1,000 please."

Shinichi focused himself as he realized that they'd arrived at the entrance to the Telecom Center observation deck. Reaching back to grab his wallet from his back pocket he suddenly felt nervous. Unsure what was causing the feeling he ignored it in favor of pulling his wallet out. Or at least he'd meant to pull his wallet out.

Paling Shinichi tried to recall when he might have lost it. Had it been at the bench? It could have fallen out, the pockets weren't very deep.

"Don't worry about it Shin-chan. I wouldn't be so rude as to go Dutch." Sly grin in place Kaito gave the entrance lady the money he'd pulled out of his own wallet.

Walking out onto the deck Shinichi let himself be led to the edge of the platform. Turning to Kaito he looked at him to see if he'd admit on his own. When he continued to grin while looking over the view Shinichi finally decided to just ask.

"Where is it?"

"Where's what Shin-chan?"

"My wallet Kaito. The one I'm willing to bet you took when we were still at the park bench."

"You can have it back at the end of the day. For now just enjoy the view. Look you can even see Mt. Fuji today!"

As arguing with the stubborn Kaito wouldn't be worth it Shinichi looked to where Kaito was pointing. The winter air may have been too cold for comfort, but it made everything look so much sharper. And he could see Mt. Fuji in the distance, snow capped peak looking to be cradled by clouds that lay in the far edges of the sky. Smiling despite himself Shinichi finally just let himself completely relax as he hadn't been able to truly do with the lingering thought in the back of his mind that said he was betraying everything he stood for by enjoying himself with a possible criminal.

One of the most famous views of his precious country just seemed to tell him that everything would be okay. The world wouldn't end if he came to be friends with a thief who returned everything he stole. And it's not like he had absolute proof that Kaito was Kid. Only circumstantial evidence even linked the two together.

"You're an odd person Kaito."

Looking at Shinichi leaning against the railing Kaito couldn't help but feel content at the sight of him finally relaxing.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't like me nearly as much if I was just like everyone else."

"I'll give you that; you make for some great entertainment. I don't suppose you'll tell me how you manage to keep all your tools of the trade hidden?"

"How could you even think to ask me that!? A true magician will never reveal their secrets to the audience. It'd ruin the magic of it Shin-chan!"

"Hehe, some people find enjoyment out of solving the riddle Kaito. But I'll try and not think too hard about it today so you can stop with the dramatics."

Letting his horrified face slide away Kaito reached over and pulled Shinichi in front of him back to chest. Lowering his head so his mouth was level to Shinichi's ear Kaito started another steady stream of conversation up to keep them both entertained. His topics switched constantly, sometimes talking about what certain flowers meant or telling stories about his antics with Aoko.

"Hey Shin-chan, want to go on the Ferris Wheel?"

Glancing to his left Shinichi could just see Kaito's profile. He was looking out over the water in the direction of Mt. Fuji as if how he answered wasn't of any concern, but Shinichi would have been willing to bet that Kaito was paying close attention to everything he did. He had that way of seeming to know so much while not giving anything away.

Turning back to look once more across Odaiba from a bird's eye view Shinichi nodded his head.

"Let's hurry then. We should be able to go at least one time around before we have to get to Tsukiakari."

The line for the Ferris Wheel turned out to be shorter than either of them had thought and soon enough they were seated and locked into one of the enclosed compartments. They sat with Shinichi on Kaito's right looking out the window with a faint flush on his cheeks and Kaito keeping his grip on Shinichi's hand while looking at him. As the wheel slowly started to turn and they were heading up towards the top, Shinichi turned to meet Kaito's gaze. Opening his mouth slightly as if wanting to say something but not sure what Shinichi paused to gather his thoughts that had scattered at the possessive look he'd seen in Kaito's eyes.

Leaning over Kaito carefully pulled Shinichi into his own lap in an imitation of how he had been on Shinichi earlier in the day. Moving slowly so as to give Shinichi time to pull away if he wanted to Kaito brought Shinichi's head down to meet his and kissed him.

It was a slow, thorough, searching kiss that was just this side of possessive. Instead of deepening the kiss when Shinichi lightly moaned Kaito kept it deliberately light, trying to tell Shinichi that he was serious about this. Trying to convey all his respect for the detective, his understanding of the uncertainty that lay behind his eyes and just what Shinichi had come to mean to him. And while he couldn't yet say outright that he was Kaitou Kid, he could make sure that Shinichi knew that this wasn't some random trick. Kaito wasn't ever going to give anyone else the chance to take Shinichi's heart. For once, Kid wasn't going to return the treasure he was setting up to be stolen.

Shinichi wasn't sure what he should be feeling at the moment. It was all a chaotic mess of emotions inside of him that left him feeling like he'd been blindsided. He vaguely thought he should be angry at Kaito for taking such liberties with him, but then he'd remember that he really hadn't done all that much to stop him. Another part of him was happy that someone was seeing him as more than just a detective. Not to say that he thought Ran didn't care for him, but sometimes he felt that she saw Shinichi the detective before she saw Shinichi the person. And then there was the part of his mind telling him to shut up and just enjoy the kiss. At the moment he was going to have to agree with that part of him.

Well, he was agreeing with it up until he started to feel dizzy from lack of oxygen. Shoving lightly at Kaito's shoulder, Shinichi sat back somewhat. His face was absolutely flushed and he was sure his lips had to have been somewhat bruised from that kiss. Looking at Kaito he felt that part of his mind that was angry start to stir. Kaito looked very much like a contented cat that had just gotten all of the fresh cream. Did Kaito just lick his lips?

A devious grin slid across Kaito's face as he spoke in a husky voice that almost seemed to purr at him.

"Something wrong Shin-chan?"

Panting somewhat to try and get more oxygen to his brain Shinichi found he couldn't quite remember what he'd been about to say.

"Did you forget to breathe through your nose? Well, I suppose we can always keep practicing later until you can remember."

Glancing to his laugh, a surprised look passed over his face for a split second. Shinichi thinking it must have been his imagination paled at what he said next. "We should be getting off though; the operator doesn't look so good."

Turning to look to his right Shinichi saw the control operator staring at them while looking a little green. The line of people behind the operator waiting to get on the Ferris Wheel were also staring at them, though some of them were acting sort of oddly. Were those the girls from the ice rink there?

"I think we should let the others have a chance to get on first before we continue practicing though Shin-chan."

Quickly scrambling off of Kaito, Shinichi bolted out the door and down the exit steps pointedly ignoring some of the wolf whistles coming from the crowd. Striding in whatever direction his feet decided to take him, Shinichi tried to calm down his rage. What had he been expecting, that the baka magician actually was being serious?

"Shinichi!"

Ignoring the calls from Kaito he kept walking, trying to pretend that it he hadn't meant anything to him. It was just the cold making his eyes water and it was just the quickly dropping temperature that made it hard to breathe.

"Shinichi!"

Feeling a tug he was pulled to an abrupt halt and staggered back slightly. Warm arms came around him to hold him tight, spinning him around so his face was crushed into Kaito's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry Shinichi. I swear I didn't mean to hurt you. Please you have to believe me."

"Why should I?! You obviously knew that we were at the bottom. Instead of telling me you make a joke?"

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Honestly I only noticed a second before you did and I was so nervous that I wasn't thinking straight. Please, please don't think I meant to hurt you. I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you. I can't promise I never will, I'm not perfect, but I swear I'll do anything I can to protect you."

Moving his face away slightly Shinichi looked Kaito in the face, seeing the pain so obvious on it, the worry and the fear fighting for prominence on his face. He looked so honestly ashamed that Shinichi couldn't find it in him to remain mad. Sure he was hurt, but he understood how easy it was sometimes to accidentally hurt someone you cared about. How many times had he said something that hurt Ran that he hadn't realized hurt her until she was running away?

Bringing his arms up and around Kaito's back he let them rest on his shoulder blades in a sort of hug meant to comfort them both.

"Let's just get something to eat and calm down."

Breathing out the tension he hadn't realized he was holding in him, Shinichi pulled away from the hug. Or at least he tried too. Kaito didn't seem so keen on letting him go just yet.

"Stay a little bit. It's the first time _you_ touched _me_. I don't want to lose that just yet."

After a while Kaito relaxed his grip and took a step back. A shaky smile in Shinichi's direction and he once again entwined their hands, tugging him off in a different direction.

"Where are we going now Kaito?"

"Tsukiakari, it's almost five and we don't want to miss out on eating really good food now do we? Besides you haven't had triple chocolate fudge cake until you've had their triple chocolate fudge cake."

It turned out that Tsukiakari was only about a five minute walk from Palette Town. While Shinichi could admit he'd been mildly worried about the kind of place Kaito would frequent he was relieved to see that it looked as if those worries were unfounded.

True to Kaito's word the place had a set of Foo Dogs made up of plain grey stone that showed some signs of age. The building itself was a three story nestled into the edge of a park trail and looked to have a very traditional sort of entrance with the Foo Dogs flanking either side of the shoji doors and a paper lantern with the kanji for Tsukiakari hanging on the side. Balconies with simple, low wooden tables spaced sparingly around could be seen from outside, though they were all unoccupied due to the cold weather.

The third floor looked almost out of place though as the walls seemed to be made up mostly of glass. There were few trees around that reached all the way to the third floor so he could only presume that that would be where there table was if Kaito was to be believed about the views from the place.

Upon entering he was surprised to see that it was less traditional on the inside, almost a mix of the new with the old. Even inside the tables were the traditional low table, but the floor space underneath the tables had been lowered so a person could choose to sit in either the traditional style or in the western custom. Pieces of live bamboo grew in pots while recessed lighting cast a soft glow over the entire place.

"Naibu-chan! How are your studies going? And you saved the table for me right?"

"Ah, Kaito-kun hello. I'm glad you made it on time I was getting worried that I'd have to give the table to someone else. And I've found a tutor so I think I'll do well on the university exams."

A young girl, no more than twenty if Shinichi was estimating right, had come at Kaito's call. Her hair was a pure black, cut into a short bob with straight cut bangs just brushing her eyes. The uniform consisted of a white collared, long sleeve shirt with a crimson vest and knee length black skirt.

She and Kaito continued talking as she led them deeper into the café and up a flight of steps leading to the third floor. As they stepped onto the third floor Shinichi looked around and observed the other people in the room. It was fairly full, with a couple in their mid-twenties near the south wall and a group of four business men in the west corner of the room and families taking up most of the middle of the room. She led them over to a table set in the far north corner, with glass walls on either side.

Depending on which corner you looked out of you could choose to look at either the Rainbow Bridge or Tokyo Tower. That at least explained why Kaito thought they might give away a reserved table if they had been even a little late. The views from this corner were perfect, no trees blocked the views from the angle given.

"Well, what do you think Shinichi?"

Glancing at Kaito in curiosity at the fact that he had used his proper name Shinichi couldn't help but smile at Kaito. He looked so nervous that Shinichi felt a little bad about accusing him earlier. Where had all his cool reason disappeared to then? He'd never been so emotional before and it was starting to get just the littlest bit irritating that he couldn't seem to think rationally whenever Kaito was involved. At the same time it was nice to not feel like he had to live up to any expectations when he was with Kaito. It was all just so confusing and contradictory.

"It's wonderful. How'd you manage to..."

"KYAAH!!!!"

Turning Shinichi saw the female in the corner of the room holding the male in her arms, screaming frantically at Naibu-san who was standing next to them holding a chocolate cake and looking frantic herself.

"Yori, come on stop this it isn't funny. Yori! What did you do to him you stupid girl?! Yori please!"

"I didn't do anything I swear! I don't know what's wrong with him."

Running over to them Shinichi pushed the screaming girl to the side to examine Yori. His eyes were open but couldn't seem to move. In fact his whole body appeared to be paralyzed though his pulse was going strong. His lungs were also still going though he seemed to be struggling to breathe. Why did this all sound so familiar?

"Kaito call the police now. And get an ambulance here ASAP we might be able to save him still."

"Is there anything I can do?"

Naibu-san was standing there looking terrified, still holding that chocolate cake but there was determination in her eyes. Thinking frantically, trying to remember if he'd seen anything like this before he suddenly remembered. Turning to her he asked the question that could blow this whole thing wide open. If he was right, then he knew who had attempted this murder and he'd only need to find the proof.

"Do you guys serve fugu here?"

A confused look on her face she shook her head, looking at him as if he was crazy for asking about such a thing right then.

"So someone else put fugu on something he ate or something that he would have touched to his mouth. Judging by the severity it was probably a piece of torafugu."

"Could it have been on his chopsticks?"

"What makes you say that Naibu-san? Are you familiar with Yori-san here?"

Naibu glanced down at the cake she was holding. Should she tell them? Nodding to herself she looked Shinichi in the eye.

"Yes, I do know him quite well. He's my tutor for exams you see. All he asked for payment was that I help him with something."

Sirens could be heard in the distance now, and Kaito had returned to Shinichi's side. Looking at him, Shinichi felt comforted when Kaito rested his hand on his shoulder offering a silent support for what he was about to do.

Taking a breath to steady himself Shinichi turned to look the girl who had been sitting with him in the eye. She was staring at Naibu with a violent look on her face. Moving quickly he intercepted the girl right before she launched herself at Naibu.

"How could you?! I loved Yori, and yet you're trying to kill him! Why couldn't you have just been happy that he tutored you?"

Sobbing the girl collapsed in his arms.

"Michi-san, I didn't.." stuttering the girl broke off as Kaito raised his hand to his lips while looking at her.

"I think the question isn't why Naibu-san couldn't be happy, but why you couldn't Michi-san."

Gasping she looked up in shock at Shinichi's carefully blank face.

"You have calluses along the side of your right thumb and the tips of the rest of your fingers. You got those from practicing with fugu hiki for the licensing exam. You would be the only person with access to fugu on a regular basis then. I'm sure if we have those flakes you spread on Yori-sans rice earlier examined they will most likely be found to be made of torafugu. The liver would be my guess considering how quickly he succumbed to the toxin."

Michi-san looked to the ground, frustration evident on her face as she let the tears continue to fall.

"We were supposed to get married someday. I thought he was the one. And then when I was shopping in Akihabara for a new cell phone I saw him sitting in a café with that girl laughing and no books in sight. How could he betray me like that?"

"You've got it all wrong Michi-san!"

A distressed Naibu proceeded to tell them all about how they had been discussing just how to stage the proposal Yori had been planning to make to Michi. Her role had been to make sure the engagement ring was put into the cake without getting damaged. She'd then bring that specific one to Michi as she habitually ordered the triple chocolate cake. When she found the ring Yori was going to propose.

"He was proposing? I had thought…" burying her face in her hands Michi started to sob her grief and guilt at what she'd done.

Turning to look at the police who had arrived while Naibu was explaining Shinichi walked over to let them know what was going on. They eventually took Michi-san away to be tried for attempted murder and the ambulance took Yori-san away. They would find out two days from then that he had survived the critical period and would make a full recovery.

"Why did you think it was the chopsticks Naibu-chan?"

Kaito was looking decidedly confused at how that correlation had been made.

"It was because Yori-san always brought his own chopsticks to our tutoring session. He said he didn't want to use anyone else's since his were a gift from Michi-san."

"That's kind of sad that she would immediately think the worst of him like that. Why didn't she ask him about it all first?"

"Because Kaito, people are so often emotional creatures they don't use their minds when presented with something that evokes strong emotions. It's like a knee jerk reaction and sometimes that reaction just happens to be murder."

Kaito couldn't help but feel a cold chill slither down his spine at how emotionless Shinichi seemed to have become as soon as he'd heard the scream. It was like this was something he'd seen already. And maybe he had seen something like this before. Anger at how people looked to Shinichi to always solve the crime made Kaito reach over and pull Shinichi into his arms.

Shinichi tightly in his grasp, he asked him if he'd rather just grab a quick something and go. At his whispered yes Kaito looked to Naibu who nodded in understanding and trotted off to collect some onigiri for them.

As they left the restaurant Kaito looked down at their entwined hands, the red string almost seeming to mock him. As if reading his mind Shinichi started to talk.

"Well, maybe your Foo Dogs and red string did some good. Yori-san now has a chance to live at least if they can keep him alive for the next 24 hours. That's better than the victims of most of the crime scenes I leave behind."

Kaito still wasn't happy though. This day had not gone nearly as well as he'd hoped. Well, he could always try to lighten the atmosphere and hope Shinichi had enough good memories to consider spending time with him again.

"Let's go to the Oedo Onsen Monogatari. We can get all warmed up there, and hopefully avoid any dead or dying bodies."

"I'm not entering any bath house with you. Ever. I don't care how cold it is."

"Well, I suppose we can always just use your house. Or my own works too if you'd rather go there. I'm sure my mom would be happy to meet you."

"How about you just give me my wallet right now?"

Pouting Kaito brought himself in close to Shinichi and while he was distracted slipped the wallet into his back pocket. As he moved back, he could see the red flush that had returned to envelop Shinichi's face and while he hadn't been able to see Shinichi without a shirt today there were always other days.

Arriving at the station Shinichi stopped to look at Kaito who was grinning like a fool. Giving a soft smile he went up onto his toes and gave Kaito a quick kiss on the lips. Pulling back before Kaito could grab him he started to walk towards his train.

"Thanks Kaito. It was a fun day on the whole."

After saying that Shinichi stepped through the doors right before they closed. Reaching up to grab a handle he tried not to think about what Kaito might do from then on. It was better to just go with the flow when Kaito was involved.

Back at the station Kaito felt his Kid persona start to come out. Razor grin in place he strolled towards a seat to wait for his own train to arrive.

Despite the occasional mishap that were a given where tantei-kun was concerned everything was going along nicely. Soon he'd be able to say that Shinichi was his alone. He couldn't wait for the next part to begin.

**...Epic fail. Sorry for the long wait only to get this thing, but I spent days writing and then needed a break before I could look at it again. I was about ready to just delete the whole thing. And I figured that there is no way I am going to try and rewrite this. So, hopefully it's not too horrible for everyone.**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated, and I adore constructive criticism, opinions, advice, questions, thoughts, etc. They make my day. And please don't expect all the chapters too suddenly be this length. I don't think I'll be able to write this much for a single chapter on a regular basis. I'm not sama or koorii. And on that note, I must ask that since sama and koorii were nice enough to make a KaiShin forum for us fanfiction people, that in return will people please at least try to write something for the contest. It'd make lots of people happy I'm sure to see new KaiShin stories. Advertising aside, I hope you all have a good day/night depending on where you are.**


	6. Just How Far

"Why are we camping in the middle of December again?"

Shinichi was looking around the mountain forest clearing as he spoke, bundled up in a thick, light grey wool coat with a deep red scarf tied securely around his neck and black leather gloves on his hands. He'd just finished pounding the last spike of Ran-san and Aoko's tent into the ground as the girls had gone off to try and find some dry kindling to start a fire up leaving Kaito and Shinichi to set up the two tents.

"Because the woods look so pretty in all the white Shin-chan! It's like tree cookies with vanilla frosting except you can't eat them."

The mountain the four friends had decided to go camping on had a dense forest of old, thick pine trees that were still covered in a light coating of snow. The sun was shining down on the clearing they had decided to make camp at, bringing out the deep red of the tents Kaito had been kind enough to provide.

When asked why he had felt the need to purchase new tents by Aoko who claimed that she had some slightly older ones that would work just as well, Kaito had made a big production, exclaiming how Aoko couldn't appreciate the things he did for them and that really did she have an appreciation for anything he did. She had been efficiently distracted from the original question and Kaito had simply just had to dodge her broom for a few minutes before wandering off to continue unpacking things.

That had been when Aoko had pulled Ran-san away in a huff in order to fetch wood for a fire so as to ward away some of the worst of the cold. The question of why Kaito had bought new tents was then left unanswered.

What Kaito found so funny about all this though was watching Shinichi. The way he kept glancing between the tents and Kaito before looking down at his left pinky finger made it completely obvious what he was thinking. It seemed the only thing keeping him from asking was probably pride, and perhaps there was also a healthy dose of fear about what Kaito might do if he brought up their date.

The last time Shinichi had made mention of it, when Kaito had dropped by his school to see him on a whim, Kaito had decided that he should spread his happiness about Shinichi acknowledging it as a date around. Most of the other students hadn't been prepared for the tricks Kaito decided to play, and the area around the school gate had essentially erupted into complete chaos.

Without anyone else around to divert Kaito's attention it seemed Shinichi wasn't willing to chance Kaito with that much energy.

Grinning at the memory of that day, he finished unpacking and setting all of the cooking utensils onto the table, leaving the food in the cooler to protect it from any wild animals that might come after smelling the scent of food as well as any bugs that might still be crawling around despite the cold weather.

Finished with his part of setting up the camp site, Kaito looked around hoping to find something else to do. Ran-san and Aoko were still in the woods somewhere so starting a fire was out of the question right then and the tents were all set up. Admiring the deep red color of them he strolled over to help Shinichi put all the pads and sleeping bags into the tents.

"Perhaps a better question for you to ask yourself would be why did you agree to go camping with me?"

Kaito kept his poker face in place as he ducked into the girl's tent, showing Shinichi a face that would come across as easygoing with the hint of a challenge in it. Really he was slightly nervous about the answer. Would Shinichi admit to wanting to spend time with him? Or would he find some other reason once again that Kaito would have to be happy with?

"Easy," Shinichi looked up from where he'd been carefully rolling out the pads they had brought that would protect them from the cold, hard ground while they slept, "Ran can be very persuasive when she wants something. I'm not particularly inclined to disagree with her once she gets an idea in her head."

As Shinichi turned back to finish straightening out the padding Kaito hid the slight hurt he felt at that behind his poker face. Kneeling down behind Shinichi he draped himself over his back and placed his hands over Shinichi's pretending to help him finish up.

He felt slightly better at the hitch in Shinichi's breathe and the way he stilled under him.

"It wasn't because you wanted to spend time with me at all?" pouting Kaito leaned a little more into Shinichi's back and brought his lips to rest against the shell of his ear, "Sure it wasn't at least partially because you wanted to cuddle with me at night?"

As the now famous blush started to once again spread like a familiar friend across Shinichi's skin he gave him a quick hug and light peck on the lips before stepping back to grab the sleeping bags that were lying in a corner of the tent behind him. Upon turning around he was surprised to see Shinichi had apparently been reaching out to him, as Shinichi had turned around and lifted his hand up in his direction as if reaching for something.

Kaito quickly reached out himself to grab his hand at seeing Shinichi start to retreat back in surprise.

"Shinichi?"

Shifting himself closer and raising their entwined hands Kaito kept a steady gaze on Shinichi, waiting to see what he would say. This time he wasn't going to push for anything. He wanted Shinichi to come to him. Waiting with bated breath, leaning forward just slightly in anticipation he about had a heart attack when a sudden screeching sound reverberated about the clearing.

Both boys immediately tried to bolt out the doorway of the little tent with the result of Kaito landing on top of Shinichi who had accidentally been flipped onto his back while trying to avoid tripping over Kaito, a move that had ultimately failed. Looking up they met eyes with Ran-san and Aoko who were in turn looking at them lying there on the ground in a tangle as the wood lay on the ground around their feet.

"What'd you scream about Ahoko?" Kaito couldn't quite seem to keep the irritation at the interruption out of his voice as he continued, "Was there a bug on the wood or something?"

"Baka Kaito, there was something in the woods over there!"

Her hand was raised and pointing towards the far corner of their clearing while as she spoke Ran-san nodded her head in agreement with a vaguely frightened look on her face.

Shifting underneath him, Shinichi started to try and move out from under him. Allowing all his weight to drop from his hands onto Shinichi he grinned happily while pointedly ignoring the disgruntled look he was being given. He hadn't honestly thought Kaito wouldn't take advantage of this sudden positioning had he?

"Kaito," Shinichi paused in his squirming to give Kaito his full attention, "will you please let me up so we can investigate what they saw? I'd rather not have to deal with everyone being jumpy for the rest of this trip because we didn't discard any incorrect theories or notions of what is or is not out there from the get go."

"But this is so much more fun Shin-chan! Besides it was probably just some animal."

"Kaito let him up right now! What's if there's something dangerous out there?"

Aoko was looming over them now, her hands on her hips while glaring at Kaito looking like she was about to start breathing fire. Ran-san stood a little ways behind looking as if she was caught between laughing at Shinichi and his predicament in being caught by Kaito or agreeing with Aoko about letting Shinichi up so he could investigate to see what exactly had been over there.

"So what you're saying is," Kaito looked Aoko dead in the eye so she could see how serious he was being, "that you'd let Shinichi take all the risks if there was someone dangerous out there?"

"Kaito, I didn't…I mean…."

Trailing off Aoko appeared put out at what he'd said. Looking down as he felt Shinichi start to shift again he refocused his attention onto him as Shinichi opened his mouth to speak.

"Kaito, there is a rock digging into my spine. Move, now."

Pouting Kaito pushed himself forward a bit before pushing upwards, allowing time for some more physical contact between himself and his special someone. Shinichi wasn't blushing quite as much as he'd have liked by that point, but he supposed he had quite some time before nightfall to work on getting a good blush going.

"Come on then Shin-chan; let's go see what ghosties we can scare up."

Grabbing his hand Kaito pulled Shinichi up and if he accidentally pulled a little too hard, knocking Shin-chan fully into him and if he had to put his arms around him to balance them both, well it's not like he intended it to happen.

And Shinichi was blushing again. Maybe he'd actually get to accomplish his mission for this trip after all. Not to say that he wouldn't have enjoyed it otherwise but it wasn't quite the same if he didn't get what he'd planned to get with this whole venture.

As he started to pull him in the direction Aoko had pointed when she first said that something was in the woods Shinichi looked over his shoulder to call out to the girls.

"Would you guys just finish setting the sleeping bags up yourself?"

Ran-san answered back with "Not a problem Shinichi."

Arriving at the edge of the clearing Kaito stood back to let Shinichi have full reign to look around. After a few seconds of exploring the woods Shinichi came back with a smile.

"Come on Kaito, let's go let the girls know they're safe for the night."

Brimming with curiosity at what exactly Shinichi had found, Kaito bounced along beside him thinking up ways to keep Shinichi from ruining all his fun. If the girls were too scared to leave their tent at night it would make things significantly easier for him.

Stopping outside their own tent both paused at the sight of how the girls had set up their sleeping bags. Instead of laying the padding on the floor and just setting two sleeping bags on top of it, they had apparently decided to make a bed of sorts. The padding was laid out across the floor of the tent, but the sleeping bags had been completely unzipped with one covering the padding with the soft side facing up and the other was on top with the soft side facing down.

But as much help as the two girls were being by setting things up the way they had he still didn't want to risk Aoko deciding that she didn't trust Kaito not to pull something and possibly coming over to make sure he didn't do anything while she slept. Or Ran-san changing her mind at night if she thought Kaito was pushing too far. Not that he was planning too, but he'd learned as Kid that whenever Tantei-kun was involved it was better to have multiple plans in place than to depend on a single one.

Plans inevitably went wrong when he entered a room, it was like a law of nature that not even Kaitou Kid could break or ignore, only circumvent and plan for.

While he'd been lost in his thoughts apparently Shinichi had decided to get into an argument with Ran-san about the bed. Leaving Shinichi to his argument, sure that he would lose in the face of Ran-san's wrath he turned to Aoko with a clown size grin. Chuckling lightly at how she looked suddenly wary at the sight of his grin he strolled over so Shinichi was less likely to hear what he was going to say.

"Why thanks for setting up the sleeping bags Aoko. Guess you aren't such an ahou after all."

"Was that supposed to be a compliment Kaito? You're going to have to polish your skills up a lot before you even have a chance with Shinichi-kun if that's how you try and persuade him to go out with you."

"How mean! And here I was going to tell you what Shin-chan found, but if you're just going to insult my abilities I'll just go see what Shin-chan thinks about my skills."

Crossing his arms Kaito turned around and took a single step before being jerked back by a hand on his elbow. Eyes wide and hands flailing he fell onto the hard ground as he lost his sense of balance. Looking up from the ground while trying to ignore the headache forming from the nasty collision of his head with some pebbles he peered up at Aoko who was standing over him.

"Was there someone out there Kaito?"

Ignoring the slight guilt he felt at pulling this trick on his friend he shook his head no. It was all for a good cause after all.

"Shin-chan couldn't find anything. Either you guys are hallucinating or it was a ghost."

As Aoko's face turned a shade or so paler than normal at the mention of ghosts Kaito pushed himself off the ground. Strolling past Aoko he patted her on the shoulder.

"At least ghosts can't hurt you though. No mass murderers out here and I'm sure Ran-san can take care of any ghosts that might decide to visit young girls camping in the woods."

With that parting comment he ignored the headache pounding in his head and latched onto Shinichi's back while he was still distracted arguing with Ran-san about how they had set up the bed.

"Come on Shin-chan what are you mad about? We can cuddle all night now!"

Sneaking his arms around Shin-chan's waist Kaito let his hands slip open a few of the coat buttons so they could wander over Shinichi's chest through his shirt as he hummed with his head leaning into the crook of Shinichi's neck. Watching the blush begin to spread downwards as Shinichi started to splutter Kaito smirked in his glee.

Finally seeming to gather some of his most likely scattered thoughts together Shinichi tilted his head downwards in a futile attempt to make Kaito look him in the eye. While Kaito liked looking at Shinichi's pretty blue eyes most of the time, he was at the moment too fascinated by the blush that had dipped beneath the red scarf to make eye contact.

"When did I ever agree to this cuddle idea of yours?! And stop doing that!"

Shinichi raised his hands in what Kaito was sure was going to be an attempt to stop him. Snapping his fingers Kaito laughed at the dumbfounded look on Shinichi's face as the sight of rope tied around his wrists appeared as the smoke from miniature smoke bomb Kaito had popped open with his other hand blew away in the light mountain breeze.

Tilting his head up now that he'd had his fill of Shinichi's blush Kaito gave Shinichi a shadow of his Kid grin, just to torment the detective a little bit.

"But you never disagreed with the idea of cuddling with me tonight, which is the same as saying you wanted to. And stop doing what Shin-chan? I can't stop doing something if you don't tell me exactly what's wrong with what I'm doing."

"I think he means stop molesting him Kaito-kun."

Both boys glanced up at an innocently smiling Ran at that. Aoko had apparently gotten over her fears at what Kaito had said, which was really a shame as now he'd have to come up with something else to do to keep both the girls away that night.

"But Shin-chan looks like such a pretty doll when he turns all red. It's not so much fun to make him blush though if I can't touch him cause then he turns even more red and gets all warm."

"I'm not a doll Kaito!"

Shinichi had of course turned even redder as Kaito spoke though he'd renewed his squirming as well to get away from Kaito. This wasn't doing much for his self-control as his teenage hormones started to make themselves known seeing as Shinichi was rubbing against the front of him while doing that.

In a slightly hoarse voice Kaito put his mouth by Shinichi's ear as he tried to let Shinichi know what he was doing without informing the girls of his little problem. There were some things they just didn't need to know. He also tightened his grip on Shinichi to stop him from moving around quite so much.

"That's probably not the best move to be making right now Shin-chan. If you'll please take a moment to make note of our position I think you'll find yourself agreeing."

Breathing a sigh of relief as Shinichi tensed into complete stillness, he turned his face towards the girls who were looking at them inquiringly to answer their unspoken questions as he untied the rope from Shinichi's wrists.

"Well, let's get a fire going and then we can make peach cobbler and smores."

"We should probably make something for dinner before we make any dessert Kaito-kun. I'll second the motion of getting a fire started though. Shinichi where did you put the lighter?"

"I'll get it Ran. You can get some of the paper and the small sticks set up while I go find it."

Kaito let go of Shinichi so he could get the lighter as Ran-san wandered off to get the beginnings of the fire going. Turning to face Aoko now that he had himself under control he decided that she looked to be in a good enough mood to speak with him.

"Well, I guess we should probably get the food ready to cook. What do you think should be on the menu for tonight?"

The rest of the afternoon passed without any major incident. They had finally decided on Ran-san preparing some spicy, grilled chicken after Aoko tried to convince Kaito to try some grilled salmon and failed spectacularly. The whole thing had ended with Kaito having to be coaxed down from one of the trees by Shinichi like he was a cat and he still refused to leave Shinichi's side. Both girls silently agreed with each other that that was probably just Kaito trying to be close to Shinichi though and not any real fear of Aoko pulling a fish from anywhere.

Finishing up his dessert Kaito sprawled from his spot on the blankets they had stretched out on the ground around the fire and laid his head in Shinichi's lap. Looking up at Shinichi Kaito gave him a full on puppy pout despite the dead pan expression Shinichi had adopted at him laying on his lap.

"My tummies's not feeling so good Shin-chan. Kiss and make it better?"

"I have absolutely no sympathy for you Kaito. Don't eat second helpings of cobbler if you're full baka."

Despite his claims of feeling nothing and his unspoken but understood refusal to kiss Kaito's stomach, Shinichi had started to thread his fingers through Kaito's hair in an almost absentminded gesture of comfort. The motion was soothing to Kaito and he felt himself starting to doze at the soothing sensation of Shinichi willingly touching him and the heat being given off by the crackling fire.

"I'm feeling pretty tired myself actually. Kaito and I are going to go get some rest I think."

"We'll take care of the fire then. I think I'm about ready to call it a night as well. Aoko-chan?"

Stretching her hands above her head Aoko let out a yawn, causing both Shinichi and Ran to chuckle quietly. Kaito closed his eyes at that, willing to just lay there like a sloth in Shinichi's lap for however long he could. Drifting off he felt himself being carefully lifted up in a pair of lean arms, presumably Shinichi's as he was being lifted from behind. Trusting Shinichi to take care of him he allowed himself to fall into the sweet bliss known as sleep.

Later Kaito opened his eyes to darkness. Jackknifing up in surprise he calmed down as his eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness allowing him to see his surroundings. Glancing down at himself he noticed that someone had changed his jeans and sweatshirt for his white sleep pants though apparently they hadn't figured out which of his shirts was supposed to be the top part to his sleeping ensemble as he had no shirt on.

The person most likely to have changed him out of his clothes though was apparently still oblivious to his awakening if the way Shinichi was laying curled on his side facing Kaito was anything to go by.

A feral grin slid across his face as he realized the perfect opportunity to accomplish his mission had just been presented to him. Carefully he lifted the blanket away from the both of them. As Shinichi remained asleep though he'd curled even more into himself Kaito was disappointed to see that while Shinichi hadn't given him a shirt he'd worn one himself. Sidling over to him he put his legs on either side of Shinichi's hips.

Using all his skills as a magician Kaito managed to remove Shinichi's shirt without waking him. Tossing the top somewhere into the corner of the tent without much thought Kaito took a moment to admire how fit Shinichi was. His chest was lightly defined from muscles and while he didn't have a six pack his stomach was still solid and flat. His waist tapered in somewhat, much like a girls really, before flowing smoothly into narrow hips.

Resisting the urge to simply sit there and stare some more Kaito let his hands start lightly tracing nonsense symbols across Shinichi's bare skin and side. Twisting to accommodate Shinichi's moving onto his back at his touch Kaito continued to simply run his hands across him. A light flush started to gather on Shinichi's cheeks. At that Kaito leaned over to start nipping at his neck as well, renewing the hickeys that had started to fade away and were almost completely gone now.

The blush spread and started to travel down his neck. Blowing gently on Shinichi's neck Kaito leaned up to take him in again. He'd stretched his neck out slightly during Kaito's ministrations almost as if he was unconsciously asking for more. The flush had spread partially down his chest before seeming to have reached some roadblock. A light sweat had appeared on his skin as well.

Kaito felt immensely pleased at the sight of how Shinichi had responded to him. Granted he was unconscious but it was at least a step in the right direction to getting Shinichi to acknowledge him fully. Besides he'd finally learned just how far that blush of his went.

Lost in his thoughts he'd continued to skim his fingers across Shinichi's skin. Apparently Shinichi had also during this time drifted from a deep sleep to REM sleep and was starting to wake up at the touch despite how light Kaito had kept that. He didn't notice the slight stirrings of Shinichi though, or how his eyes slowly opened to the sight of Kaito sitting on top of him.

He did however notice when Shinichi took a pillow and smacked Kaito in the head. Hard.

"Ouch, Shin-chan!" grumbling Kaito met Shinichi's eyes, "ehehe, what's up?"

Glaring outright Shinichi looked down at himself and then looked back at Kaito using his eyes to ask if the thief was really that stupid.

"What, may I ask, did you think you were doing?" Shinichi asked in a carefully controlled voice though Kaito could almost see the simmering violence underlying it all.

"Errr…" Kaito threw a couple excuses around in his mind before deciding the truth would probably work out in his favor a lot more, "I was trying to see how far down your blush goes. It stops halfway down your chest by the way. And I wanted to make sure you didn't let my love bites fade. I might have sorta wanted to see you without a shirt as well."

Shinichi responded with a smack to Kaito's head, before deciding that it was way too late at night to be dealing with Kaito and burrowing under the covers to go back to sleep with his back to Kaito.

Pouting Kaito pushed his luck a little bit farther.

"At least I didn't take your pants off like you took mine."

Throwing a glare over his shoulder Shinichi responded.

"And how do I know you wouldn't have tried just that if I hadn't woken up? Besides I was just getting you into your pajama's which you helped me with though I suppose you were too tired to really notice."

With a cheerful grin at Shinichi he got under the covers himself and spooned Shinichi despite half hearted protests on Shinichi's part.

"Actually, I wasn't going to go any farther for tonight. Honest. We still have two more nights out here after all."

Ignoring the groan that came from his Tantei-kun at that Kaito simply continued to cuddle with him before drifting off once again. He'd need his energy to keep Shinichi from killing him in the morning when he'd had a chance to process everything Kaito had done after all.

**Well, one more chapter to go before this is all done. I'm almost sad cause I'd have liked to expand on some parts more, but I have a deadline and alot planned for the next chapter. Talking with Teah no Kitsune though there will be a sort of omake after the last official chapter. Hopefully it'll prove to be humorous. Anyways, unless something really odd happens I plan to have the last chapter posted Christmas morning as a gift to everyone who's been kind enough to read and also for those who have been such faithful reviewers. The reviews really do make my day^^**

**Anyways, all criticisms, thoughts, opinions, questions, etc. are greatly appreciated and welcomed. I hope you've all enjoyed the chapter and have a good day/night depending on where you are.**


	7. Throw The Key Away

"I still don't understand how they came up with your mom's sapphire from that note though Sonoko. I mean it is a sapphire but there are lots of sapphires in Tokyo. How can they know for certain they've picked the right one?"

"I don't get it either, but if it means I have the chance to see Kid-sama I'm not going to complain about it."

"But if they've got the wrong one than Kaitou Kid won't even show up this evening. And how can they know what the 'precious hour' is to say when he'll show up?"

"Really Ran, have more faith. Wasn't your husband the one who figured the note out anyways? Have some faith in the detective freak."

"Sonoko! He's not my husband. In fact he got someone else that seems to really love him while you were visiting Makoto these last few weeks."

Shinichi tried very hard not to chuckle when Sonoko started choking on her pear sparkling when Ran decided to inform her friend of his love life. Though he couldn't suppress the satisfaction he felt entirely considering she'd been talking about him as if he hadn't been standing right next to her the entire time.

"Actually Sonoko, I wasn't the one who supposedly deciphered the note though rest assured Kid will be showing up tonight. Nakamori-keibu came up with it considering the sapphire pendant your mother is wearing has been referred to as the Grecian Sapphire by some and your mother holds a position that might make some refer to her as a Queen. Thinking like that I can see where it might be easy to make the mistake of thinking it's the sapphire."

Sonoko ignored him as she continued to try and breathe from the shock of finding out that one of the major constants in her life was no longer a constant, with Makoto rubbing her back while worrying over her. He'd run over to the group as soon as he'd seen her start choking on her drink. Meanwhile Ran turned to face Shinichi with a questioning look on her face.

"You don't sound as if you think Nakamori-keibu has the right jewel Shinichi."

"You're right I don't think he has the correct jewel. He does have the correct location of the jewel, though I'm sure that was more luck on his part than anything." He replied with a small smirk dashed across his face.

"Then tell me what Kaitou Kid will be stealing from the party, oh great detective."

Facing Ran, who'd placed her hands on her hips and was glaring at him, Shinichi thought that maybe the implication of an insult to Aoko-san's father might have been a bad move on his part. Well, if he was right than Ran would probably feel less like hitting him for that later.

Reaching into the breast pocket of his semi-formal black jacket Shinichi pulled out a copy of the heist note he'd made as soon as the note had appeared in the papers and handed it to Ran before turning to observe the rest of the room as she read it.

"'I will steal the Grecian Sapphire at its most precious hour/ The Queen's Gift will be given to the Queen of the Moon/ Though I'll keep the Lady's heart as my own true gem.' I still don't get it, Shinichi."

Ran looked up from the small card to Shinichi's face which still had a smug grin on it.

Without glancing away from the crowd around him Shinichi proceeded to explain the heist note to Ran.

"We'll start with the first line then. 'I will steal the Grecian Sapphire at its most precious hour' obviously is telling us that he is going to steal something. Nakamori-keibu is wrong in assuming that he is talking about an actual sapphire though. In ancient Greece a sapphire was the term used to refer to a lapis lazuli stone. Even nowadays children may carry them to protect from drowning."

Pausing to grab a sparkling drink from one of the many hired waiters that had paused in front of him, Shinichi took a sip as his eyes followed the waiter as he walked away.

Feeling impatient to hear the rest Ran asked, "What about the precious hour then?"

Smiling Shinichi continued his explanation.

"Wiccan's attribute the fourth hour of the night to the lapis lazuli. So, he'll be arriving four hours after dusk, hence the precious hour of the lapis lazuli."

"I thought that lapis lazuli were just stones though. They're not actual gems are they?"

"Well, technically they aren't but comparatively speaking that's a recent discovery. In ancient times the lapis lazuli was considered more precious than gold. Egyptians carved important texts onto it and buried their dead with lapis lazuli scarab beetles. Medieval doctors used crushed lapis lazuli as medicine to cure a variety of things. Obviously it was famous in Greece as well."

Wide eyed Ran could only wonder how Shinichi came to know so many obscure things.

"Moving on to the second line then. 'The Queen's Gift will be given to the Queen of the Moon.'"

Taking another sip of his drink to keep his throat from drying out in the heat of the room Shinichi continued to allow his eyes to rove around without pausing for too long on any one person. Rather he kept an eye on everyone in order to be at least somewhat prepared for when the heist started and Kid appeared which should have been happening soon.

At this time of year dusk came about 5 o'clock and it was approaching nine right then. Kid would be making his appearance soon and he didn't want to make the mistake of getting caught up in some trap like the rest of the police force.

"That line is what tells me that this is the right location. The Queen's Gift tells us what jewel he's after and that jewel just so happens to be on Sonoko's neck right now."

Both of them looked over at Sonoko who had finally recovered from her choking session and was ranting to Makoto who simply nodded his head at everything she said. On her neck was a fairly simple choker that provided a nice contrast to her simple, black dress. The choker had a plain wide, antique gold band with a lapis lazuli about the size of an American half dollar in the shape of an oval set in the very center.

"That's what he's after? It looks so simple though."

Ran seemed to be perplexed why an international jewel thief would want a choker that only held a semi-precious stone when there were far more expensive stones at the Christmas party seeing as it was being held by Sonoko's parents.

"That choker is actually somewhat famous among jewelers, it's known as Amphitrite's Gift. It's said that it was given to Aphrodite by Amphitrite, the wife of the Greek sea king Poseidon, before Aphrodite was borne away to Mount Olympus. The lapis lazuli is also connected to the planet Venus, the Roman name for Aphrodite, according to Wiccans so that also assures me that this jewel is the one mentioned."

"What about the 'Queen of the Moon' part? Kaitou Kid is obviously a boy and it's not like he can give it to himself. Do you think he'll have a partner for this heist? Or maybe," a sly look passed onto Ran's face as she leaned over to make sure she could see Shinichi's face, "he plans to give it to a certain love interest of his as a token of affection?"

Trying to ignore the smirk that had transferred itself to Ran's face as he felt a light flush spread across his face, Shinichi kept his eyes on the crowd and steadfastly refused to look Ran in the eye.

"I don't know for sure what he means by giving it to the Queen of the Moon. Obviously he doesn't plan to keep it for himself though. The third line doesn't seem to really mean much. 'Though I'll keep the Ladies heart as my own true gem' might be that he plans to capture the attention of someone. Possibly it means Sonoko since she's the one wearing the jewel and she's pretty obvious about her Kid obsession despite Makoto being around."

"That or you're just trying to ignore the fact that it's you who Kid is most likely to think of as his 'Queen' in which case it's you whose going to get the choker in the end."

"That would be an absolute waste of time on his part then since I'm obviously not going to keep it if he gives it to me. There'd be no point to any of this if that's his whole objective."

Sighing Ran turned away from him to observe the crowd as well. Nakamori-keibu was standing at the entrance making sure that every guest that entered late was checked for a mask and periodically checking his own officers. Other policemen were stationed around the room by windows and exits though there were fewer than most heists had. It seemed that Sonoko had not been willing to allow too many officers into the party.

"You really don't have a romantic bone in your body, do you? It's the thought that counts, baka."

"Kudou-san does have a point though. Why go to all the trouble of stealing something just to give it back to a detective? I'd be rather interested in hearing why the lady thinks that Kaitou Kid has a romantic interest in you though, Kudou-san."

Turning around they were met with Hakuba Saguru standing behind them in a pale grey suit that brought out his more European features.

"Hello, Hakuba-san. I'd say I'm surprised to see you here, but then I'd be lying. I take it you only recently arrived back in Japan in time, seeing as you've failed to set Nakamori-keibu back onto the right trail?"

With a disgruntled look on his face Hakuba proceeded to give a detailed explanation of the trouble he had gone through trying to convince Nakamori that he was wrong in his interpretation of the heist note and his subsequent failure in managing to convince the keibu that he was right.

"Really, the man is never going to catch Kid if he's so unwilling to listen to others opinions, especially when they make sense."

Shinichi started to cough in the middle of taking a sip of his drink at that. Ran moved to try and help him but was beaten to it by the waiter from before who'd appeared from seemingly nowhere to help. The man took Shinichi's drink away gently while continuing to slowly rub his back as Shinichi sucked in air now that he'd managed to swallow all the liquid down.

Looking up Shinichi thanked the man, a boy really as he didn't seem that much older than him.

"It wasn't a problem at all, Kudou-san." Turning the waiter grabbed another drink from his tray which had been set on a nearby table. "Here try not to choke on it this time around."

Absently Shinichi realized he must have coughed harder than he'd first thought as when he took a drink to help clear his throat he found the new drink seemed to lightly burn his throat.

"Ah, thanks again."

Smiling the waiter took a step back, picking his tray up. Without saying anything he drifted back into the crowd, a cheeky grin on his face the last thing they saw of him before the crowd of people swallowed him whole.

"Shinichi, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

Ran was standing next to them, looking slightly lost while still managing to at the same time look incredibly mad at Shinichi for ignoring her.

"Sorry about that, Ran. Hakuba, meet Mouri Ran, she's a childhood friend of mine. Ran, this is Hakuba Saguru another detective I met while working on that serial killer case a few months ago. You remember that one right? I was gone for a few days."

"Of course I remember that one! You went and got yourself hurt that time!"

Rounding to face Hakuba with her arms crossed she spoke with undertones of a snarl in her voice, "Hakuba-san, were you one of the ones that let him just run off on his own then? What if he'd gotten seriously injured or something!?"

Shinichi grimaced at her outburst, turning to see how Hakuba would react to his strong willed friend. He took a moment to simply blink when what greeted his eyes wasn't an irritated Hakuba but a smiling Hakuba. Who appeared to be finding a pissed off Ran amusing. Was the guy secretly a masochist or something?

"I did not know he had gotten hurt on that case actually. If I had realized he was going to do something foolish I would of course have done my best to prevent it, Mouri-san."

Ran calmed down somewhat at that, even going so far as to offer him a small smile and apology for thinking such a thing of him. Shocked, Shinichi could only stare at the two of them. At least until Ran decided to return some of her attention back onto him.

"Well, hopefully between me, Hakuba-san, and Kaito-kun we can manage to protect you from yourself. Stupid detective, you have to depend on others sometimes or you're just going to keep getting hurt."

Shinichi started sweating in fear as he looked around hoping to find something or someone to distract Ran from starting another rant about his idiodicy as she was gearing up to do. Swiftly downing his drink to avoid having to say anything just yet, he found salvation in the form of Hakuba suddenly.

"Are you feeling all right, Hakuba-san? You looked shocked."

Seeming to drag himself from whatever he'd been thinking on Hakuba replied, "I'm feeling well enough, Kudou-san."

Looking over at Ran he continued, "I was just wondering about what you had said earlier, Mouri-san. This 'Kaito-kun' you mentioned. Would you perhaps be talking about Kuroba Kaito, a teenage magician?"

Visibly perking up Ran turned all her attention back onto Hakuba leaving Shinichi to breathe a sigh of relief as he absent mindedly took a sip of his drink. Hadn't he finished it a minute ago? He was pulled out of his introspection at Ran's words though.

"Yes I was actually. He is Shinichi's boyfriend after all. Such a small world we live in that you would know him. Are you and Kaito-kun friends as well?"

"Classmate actually. I arrived back in Japan just last night so I hadn't heard the news. I suppose congratulations are in order?"

Grimacing Shinichi shook his head. Really Ran seemed to feel the need to tell everyone that he was dating someone now. His humiliation increased as she continued oblivious to him. That or she was just ignoring how he felt.

"Don't worry it's a fairly recent occurrence. Shinichi kept holding out on Kaito-kun for awhile but eventually Kaito-kun wore him down."

Ran suddenly seemed to notice something a little ways behind Hakuba. Sonoko was waving her hand in the gesture to have Ran come over to her. She seemed to be fairly excited about whatever she had to say though she was pointedly ignoring Shinichi it appeared.

"I think Sonoko needs something. It was nice meeting you, Hakuba-san and good luck catching Kid. You too, Shinichi. You'll both probably need it."

With that parting comment Ran wandered on over to stand next to Makoto and Sonoko, the latter of which started to chatter excitedly at Ran about something or other.

"So, you're dating Kuroba now? May I ask where he's disappeared to then? I would have thought he'd be staying next to you at all times."

Giving Hakuba a sharp glance he replied, "Kaito had already made plans to spend the evening with a friend of his. I believe he referred to him as Jii-san."

"You don't find that at all suspicious? A magician that cannot skate just as the Kid cannot skate. A magician who claims to be a fan of the Kaitou Kid but that I have never seen at a heist. Someone who has the physical capabilities and the training to be the Kaitou Kid."

At the circumstantial evidence being presented to him, as if it was all a hard _fact, _Shinichi felt a swelling of rage start up in him. Swallowing some more of his drink to give himself a moment to calm the fiery anger Shinichi turned to fully face Hakuba who had moved to stand next to him once Ran had left to talk with Sonoko.

"Last I checked, a detective, a _good_ detective at least, doesn't accuse a person without hard proof."

"The evidence against him is astounding. I simply don't want to see a detective with abilities such as yourself be swayed by something like emotions. _For the trained reasoner to admit such intrusions into his own delicate and finely adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which might throw a doubt upon all his mental results._"

Caught between happiness at meeting someone who could quote a Sherlock Holmes story so readily and anger that this same person would make such conclusions despite having read Sherlock Holmes, Shinichi responded in like.

"_It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts._"

"Well said, Tantei-kun!"

Everyone in the room fell silent in shock, turning to stare at the figure in a white suit that had come to be standing directly behind Shinichi. Humming, while everyone around stood in shock at the quiet appearance, Kid brought his arms around Shinichi pulling him back into his embrace.

Nakamori-keibu was the first to recover and immediately ordered all the guards to surround the two of them. As the crowd started to come back to life with girls shrieking and people starting to swarm around them, Hakuba reached over to try and grab either Kid or Shinichi.

"Uh, uh he's mine, Hakuba."

With that a puff of green smoke surrounded the two of them and Hakuba stumbled back coughing. As the smoke cleared neither of the two boys were in sight.

"Kid, let go of me!! This isn't funny what the heck do you think you're doing!"

The Task Force could only stare dumbfounded at the sight of the detective Shinichi with his arms bound above his head by a rope hanging from the ceiling while standing next to the Kaitou Kid on the stage where moments ago the band had been playing.

Kid simply gave a smile to the crowd and the detective he'd effectively immobilized. Raising his hand to let it rest on his cheek Kid stepped close to the detective, pressing his body into the other's.

"Ah, sorry, tantei-kun, but I can't have you trying anything now can I? Besides, don't you like the piece of pretty I gave you?"

At his words Shinichi suddenly realized there was a heavy weight on his neck, something he had overlooked in the shock of Kid appearing and tying him up. Paling at the implications of such a thing he looked over the crowd trying to find Sonoko. If she still had the necklace he could possibly try and live this embarrassment down but if she didn't, well that wasn't something he wanted to contemplate. Spotting her, he realized that yes, the Amphitrite's Gift was no longer on her neck. Which meant that the weight he felt was the choker. On him. The choker that was supposed to be presented to the 'Queen of the Moon.'

"Tantei-kun? You don't like it?"

Kid was looking at him very carefully with a pout on his face. Feeling himself turn incredibly red Shinichi tried to turn his head away and down. There was no way he could face the Kaitou Kid after this. Why did he have to do such a thing in front of everyone?!

"Hmph, well I suppose I can always just let everyone know what's going on while you ignore me."

Turning to face the crowd that still didn't seem to have gotten over its shock Kid gave them all a poker face grin as he ignored the sudden exclamation of surprise from Shinichi.

"It seems you're under the impression I was after that gaudy jewel. Really, Nakamori-keibu, I'd have thought you'd know by now that I only go after the most precious jewel. Kudou Shinichi is mine now and I'm not going to give him back. Now that we have that cleared up I'll have to bid you all adieu with the understanding that no one else will be attempting to touch him."

Once again facing Shinichi who was looking at the floor as if it was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen Kid reached both of his white gloved hands up to rest on his face. With a firm hold he lifted Shinichi's head so they were looking eye to eye. Leaning forward he placed a chaste kiss on his lips and immediately the lights went out plunging the whole party into complete darkness.

About ten seconds later the lights came back on to reveal Shinichi standing on the stage with his hands freed and the choker still firmly in place on his neck. Hurrying off the stage he ran over to Sonoko and Ran as the Task Force led by Nakamori-keibu swarmed the stage hoping to find some clue as to where the Kid had disappeared too.

"Please don't kill me, Sonoko. Here you can have the choker back now."

Fiddling with the clasp of the choker he paused as Ran reached out to pull his hands down. Looking at her in confusion he smiled as she stepped behind him to start working on the clasp herself.

"There we go, Sonoko. I'm pretty sure I managed it correctly."

"Are you sure? Here let me see."

Shinichi wasn't liking the feel of this all of the sudden. Why wasn't the choker coming off and what the heck were Sonoko and Ran doing behind him.

"Yep it's done. You're just going to have to break up with your boyfriend Shinichi. The collar has a lock on it and I'm the only one with the key. I'm not going to let you break Kid-sama's heart, you detective freak."

Staring over his shoulder at the two crazy girls behind him, Shinichi felt as if he was suffocating in the room with people staring at him and Nakamori-keibu coming over from the stage with the look of a pissed off bull. Shoving away from them he bolted past both the guests who were chattering away in excitement and the police that had tried to secure the perimeter to prevent Kid's escape.

Eventually he found himself standing outside the gates of his house, panting and out of breath. Leaning against the wall he reached up to make sure that this wasn't all just a really bad dream. Sure enough the choker was still there, the lapis lazuli set in the very center of a gold chain that was strung around his neck like a noose.

"You should come on in before you get a cold, Shin-chan."

Startled out of his thoughts and berating himself for not noticing the presence before him he looked up to see Kaito standing there. He'd opened the gate from the inside meaning he'd been waiting for him. Suddenly finding it difficult to breathe again Shinichi allowed a worried looking Kaito to pull him up the path and into the house.

Leading the way into the library Kaito set him in the armchair that was directly in front of the fireplace that had a large, crackling fire already started. Numbly he held the coffee cup that had been shoved into his hands as he looked into the fire.

"You gave me a slight sedative right?"

Kaito looked over at him with a keen glint in his eye from the far edge of the fireplace where he'd stacked up some split logs.

"Don't answer that, I already know you did. The second glass you gave to me had it, that's what created the slight burn. I hadn't coughed enough to hurt the inside of my esophagus and it wasn't an alcoholic drink so there's no reason for it to have hurt."

Taking a sip of the coffee to warm himself up and hopefully take away some of the lethargy that was still in his system despite the burst of adrenaline he'd gotten from running, Shinichi continued to look into the fire so he wouldn't have to see Kaito's face.

"Furthermore, if a waiter knew enough about me to recognize my face and know my name they wouldn't have been quite so familiar. There would have been some more distance but you immediately touched me which suggests a certain amount of familiarity."

Taking a deep breath he continued.

"I've been suspicious from the first time we met as Shinichi and Kaito you know. You were far too familiar with me then as well. Aoko-san had been at the mall the day that Kid harassed me and Ran. She admitted that you later appeared as well though you were later than planned. The time you arrived corresponded with shortly after Kid finished with me."

"Are you going to arrest me now?"

Resisting the urge to look at Kaito's face, to see the pain he already heard in his voice he continued to look at the sparking flames. They almost seemed to dance along the logs as they moved in tangent with one another. How easy it must have been to be a simple flame. But then he wouldn't have been able to spend time with Kaito or Kid.

Sighing softly with an almost defeated edge, Shinichi shook his head.

"I have no hard facts. So until I catch Kid himself at a heist I have only my instincts to back me up. I quite like the game we're playing, Kaito, so I'll follow the rules. Though I do have to ask that you inform Nakamori-keibu that in no way am I an accomplice of yours. It's going to be bad enough as it is since you've decided to declare you're intent to court me. Sonoko has even locked this choker to my neck."

Finally looking up into Kaito's face which was an interesting mix of disbelief and pure joy Shinichi smiled. Standing up from his spot in the chair he took the single step to be standing almost on top of Kaito. Slowly reaching his hands up to thread through Kaito's unruly hair he gently pulled Kaito's face down to meet his in a slow kiss.

Kaito was quick to react by reaching his arms around Shinichi's waist and bringing him as close as physically possible. Deepening the kiss he pulled away only after he realized Shinichi seemed to be getting a little too weak.

"Shin-chan, you're supposed to breathe through your nose. I suppose we'll just have to practice some more until you get the hang of it."

With a lecherous grin he leaned his head back down to steal another kiss from him. Leaning his own head back to have more time to catch his breath he realized it was a losing task as Kaito simply redirected his attention to his jaw line. The choker protected his neck at least.

"I'm not going to give you up, you know. Even if you decide you're tired of me, even if you come to hate me I won't let you go. You've chosen me now. There's no going back."

Panting Shinichi responded with a quiet moan as Kaito moved to lightly nip at Shinichi's collarbone once he'd unbuttoned the top portion of his shirt and spread the collar.

"I'll take that as a yes then. Don't worry you won't be kept away from Kid's heists. I don't think he'd have nearly as much fun without his tantei-kun around. In fact he might decide to quit then and wouldn't Nakamori-keibu be just devastated at that."

Trying to regain some semblance of control as Kaito started to pull at his jacket he managed to bring his hands up to push at his shoulders. Glancing up at him with a questioning look Shinichi managed to gather his thoughts together.

"I am not going to sleep with you after knowing you for less than a month baka."

Staring dumbfounded at his blunt boyfriend Kaito loosened his grip enough for Shinichi to pull away and return to his seat. Grabbing the coffee cup that he'd set on a side table, Shinichi sat back into his seat and took a sip, pointedly ignoring the disbelieving look Kaito was giving him. After calming himself down with the drink he picked up his copy of _A Study in Scarlet_ and opened it to the bookmarked page.

"You're seriously ignoring me for a book?"

Glancing up at him Shinichi just gave him a look as if to say _Yes, I am thank you Captain Obvious_.

"But why?"

"You drugged me, you kissed me in front of a crowd of strangers, as a criminal you declared an intent to court me in front of the police who I work with, you put this thing on my neck which is now locked thanks to one of your obsessive fans, you implied that I was a female, and now I will have Ran bugging me for weeks about this. Enough said."

Giving a sigh of defeat Kaito stepped over to him and pulled him up. As Shinichi gave him a questioning look Kaito took a seat on the chair himself before pulling Shinichi down to sit in his lap.

"There now I can at least cuddle with you while you read."

Shaking his head and just glad that he hadn't done anything worse Shinichi simply allowed himself to sink into Kaito's warmth as he re-opened his book to start reading again. Slowly he drifted off to sleep as the late hour of the night caught up with him, helped along by the heat from Kaito's body and the fire.

When he woke up the next morning to find himself in bed still in his slacks from the night before with Kaito laying next to him Shinichi allowed himself to relax back into slumber. He trusted Kaito to have taken care of the police but he wasn't looking forward to facing Ran any sooner than he had too. As he fell back asleep he never noticed Kaito watching him with a gentle smile. While Kaito was too awake to fall back asleep he remained lying there in the bed with his arm wrapped around Shinichi's waist. He'd finally gotten his Queen's heart and he wasn't going to return this particular stolen treasure.

**Here's the final chapter. Sorry Teah-chan (if you'd rather I not shorten your name feel free to yell at me) but I think I'll be leaving with more a whimper of Kid Heist than a bang. Can I really even call it a heist? Anyways, only a short omake I'll be doing next that will hopefully be up by the first. ^^ And sorry to everyone who might have thought I'd get this out in the morning. I realize it's late X-mas but I'm a total procrastinator. Once again sorry and please don't kill me. **

**Ah, and if there are any errors you can blame my sister. I had her do all the editing for me.^^ Just kidding I'll take responsibility for my own work. Anyways sissy dearest raised an important point. Not everyone might know what sparkling is. It's just a non-alcoholic drink that's generally drunk at holiday parties. It's almost like a soda but some fruity flavor and it looks alot like champagne. It even comes in glass bottles like that stuff. Not alot in a single bottle sadly so it's easy to go through a lot of the stuff in one day. Hopefully that clears that up if anyone was confused.**

**The quotes are actual quotes from the Sherlock Holmes novels. Just to mention it thought, the very first quote is somewhat edited. Originally there is a 'But' at the start. I deleted it. If that irritates you I'm sorry but I'm not changing it. And a word of advice if that irritates you don't go see the new Sherlock Holmes movie. It doesn't really seem to like how the books portray characters. I think that's it now so I'll shut up in case anyone that actually reads these is getting mad at me. Have a good night/day everyone!**


	8. The Fangirls are Back

"What do you mean you lost them?!" Tsuki turned evil eyes onto her sister Alice who simply crossed her arms and glared back with an equal amount of venom.

"I mean I lost them when I say I lost them! What else would I mean?!" Throwing her hands up into the air before turning on her heel to walk over to lay across the couch she continued, "Besides, why would you ask the girl that gets lost walking in a straight line to follow a magician and a detective into the woods? Teah-chan would have been better for that, or even Ai-chan."

Teah looked up from her spot at the computers to look at the two sisters arguing about the camping trip pictures. Or rather the lack of pictures.

"There was snow everywhere and it was cold. No way was I going."

Alice pushed herself up onto her elbows looking at the two that simple stared at her.

"Well, you could have asked Ai-chan to do it. She's the genius around here."

All eyes turned onto the last member of their little party who was sitting in front of the other computer in the room looking at some data filled with chemical equations none of the rest could hope to comprehend.

Without turning around in her seat Ai replied to the unspoken question.

"I put the video cameras in Kudo's house didn't I? The rest was up to you guys."

With a triumphant grin Tsuki turned onto her sister.

"See it's your fault we don't have the pictures to complete the collection!"

Shrugging Alice simply flopped back onto the couch to stare at the ceiling.

"Eh, well it's not like they would have done anything that interesting. I'm agreeing with Teah-chan on this. It was cold. And there was evil snow everywhere. What could they have done that would be enough to freak over. It was too cold to think romantic thoughts right, Teah-chan?"

"They could have been snuggling together I suppose. They only had two tents so the boys probably shared one. It was probably too cold to do anything to major though. We should be fine."

"See, sissy? Just finish polishing what we managed to get from the ice rink, Odaiba, the party, and the library, and we should be good. That'll be more than enough to rake in a good profit from the fangirl community."

Angry marks appeared all around Tsuki's head while she clenched her hands into fists as Alice proceeded to ignore her in favor of staring at the ceiling.

"Stop ordering me around, little sister."

Bolting up at the little comment Alice continued the argument with Tsuki, the two exchanging insults back and forth while Ai and Teah pretended like they didn't exist. This continued until a new message appeared on Teah's computer.

"Hey guys, Sonoko-san replied back. We've got our first bidder it seems."

"Really!" The sisters shouted in unison.

"Yep, we're starting at ¥20,000 it seems. I have to wonder though, who'd you irritate into giving us those tickets to the party, Alice?"

Confused, Alice looked over at Teah from where she'd been doing a random dance of glee by her desk.

"I thought you got those, Teah-chan."

"No, I didn't get them. Did you, Tsuki?"

"No, I thought you did as well."

"Well if I didn't, Alice didn't, and you didn't then who did?"

Piping up from her corner of the room Ai answered.

"I did. I had to make sure we didn't miss one of the largest events of this whole thing and I wasn't about to trust one of _you_ to make sure you got in. Agasa was easy enough prey anyways."

The three simply sat frozen in fear of their fellow soldier and KaiShin fangirl.

**Ah, hopefully this was funny enough for everyone. It almost doesn't seem like much of an omake, but it's what I wrote. This is the absolute end of the story now, just in time for the deadline. If anyone is wondering about the library video, that wasn't actually in the chapters. The lovely Teah-chan wrote a short little thing based off that chapter, which is write below the author's note so everything below this is credited to Teah-chan. If you like it go and send her lots of love. It was so cute in my opinion I suddenly felt like doing a little continuation of it, with Teah-chan's permission. Obviously there are some slight differences. Oh, and Tsuki is short for Tsuki_Rae who doesn't write for this fandom, but she is my older sister and I've converted her. ^^ I'll hurry and shut up now. Happy New Years everyone and it's been an absolute pleasure hearing everyone's comments on this story. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday.**

'Where's that layout?'  
'Here it is, ma'm.' *takes out a large piece of parchment and spreads it out on the desk*  
'We're so lucky Alice-chan decided to give us this story layout. What does it say? Anything noteworthy happening tonight? This'll be our last evening residing in this dimension, after all.'  
'Ma'm, our targets are scheduled to cuddle on the armchair in the Kudo residence at exactly 9:32pm following the Marking heist.'  
'Hmm... Very well. In the library I presume?'  
*looks through the layout again* 'Hai.'  
'Alright then, switch the view on screen 17 to camera no.2, we still have some time before the aforementioned time so might... as... well...'  
*she trailed off as the occupants of the room fell into stunned silence, looking at the screen. Looking at the screen where their two targets /were kissing/. As in /making out/. /Heavily/.

'KYAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!'

*Doctor Agasa winced as the sound reached his ears, wondering how it was possible at all with the sound-proof walls in the way. He turned to Ai-chan to /again/ inquire the enigmatic not-child about why she let those dimension-traveling fangirls even remotely close to the normally strictly guarded laboratory in the basement of the house. However, upon turning around, he found no trace of the girl, except a small note in the place she sat not a minute ago.*  
'I'll be in the basement. Don't disturb us.'  
*The doctor felt a massive sweatdrop coming on, as well as a surge of fear.*  
'She's one of them...'  
Deciding fleeing the house at this point of time would be best, he set off to his favorite restaurant. Fast.


End file.
